Chisora Heading for Retirement – Should He Accelerate It?

Derek Chisora lost to Deontay Wilder via a split decision in London, and after that fight – the 50th of his career – Chisora’s boxing career appears to be over. Before the Wilder matchup, Chisora had won four of his five previous fights, only losing by TKO to Tyson Fury in 2022.

Tired Chisora

Chisora has said he “can’t do it anymore”. After an “amazing” career, he’s tired. He said a fighter knows when it’s time.

This somewhat contradicts what Fabio Wardley had written ahead of the Chisora-Wilder fight. Wardley, WBO heavyweight world champion, had said he’d “like to see [Chisora] call it a day” regardless of the outcome, but that retirement was a difficult decision for anyone. The temptation to continually go for “maybe one more” was common among fighters, said Wardley.

Chisora’s mixed signals about retirement in the previous few months suggest the decision has been difficult. A few years ago, Chisora had been guided by “many leading figures in boxing” (per The Ring) and decided he’d keep going until he hit half a century.

And even though Chisora said he knows it’s time, when asked if he wanted to fight again earlier in that same press conference, he said “I don’t know.” So should Chisora hang up his gloves?

Split decision

Losing (albeit by split decision) to Wilder suggests it might be Chisora’s time. Boxing fans considering a sports bet ahead of that fight will have seen that Chisora was the firm favorite, given that Wilder is 40 years old (only two years younger than Chisora) and had lost four of his previous six fights. Wilder’s overall record is strong and his knockout ratio is particularly impressive, but he’s struggled for consistency since the Tyson Fury trilogy. This was a winnable fight for Chisora, but he appears to be going out on a loss.

Before the three-fight winning streak that just ended, Chisora had been struggling for a couple of years. As well as losing that fight against Fury in London, he’d suffered back-to-back losses against Joseph Parker in Manchester (2021). Chisora also lost to Oleksandr Usyk in 2020.

And how long should Chisora keep going if he were to fight again? In that press conference where he was asked whether he’d continue, Chisora looked down at his son, sleeping on his chest, and asked his advice.

Chisora then said, “it’s not over”, explaining that even if he might not fit again, he could continue in another boxing role. He said he’d go home and speak to “the boss” (his partner).

‘War’ has promoted his last three fights as his last. He has fought almost every high-level heavyweight of the era. If he were to end his career on that loss to Wilder (described as a “blood and guts battle” by SI), it would in a way be fitting for a relentless career – even if it didn’t end the way Chisora wished.

Fighting since 2007

Chisora started his career 20 pounds lighter than the career-heavy weight (266 ¾ pounds) he weighed in for the Wilder fight. He knocked out István Kecskés in his first professional fight. That was back in 2007, and he has since won 22 more fights by knockout and 13 by decision. Chisora’s record stands at 36 wins and 14 losses.