British heavyweight veteran Derek Chisora has split from promoter Frank Warren, ahead of his upcoming showdown with Deontay Wilder.
British fan-favourite heavyweight Derek ‘War’ Chisora has not had an easy time in finalising his 50th professional fight.
Early last year, we were told his fight with Otto Wallin would be his very last in the United Kingdom and that his next bout would be his career finale.
Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs) went on to beat Sweden’s Wallin convincingly, dropping him twice and winning a dominant decision. Since then, there has been extended discussions regarding Chisora’s next opponent, but nothing has gotten over the line as of yet.
Prior to his fight with Wallin being finalised, there were reports that Chisora was in negotiations to fight controversial American Jarrell Miller. These same reports were heard later the same year, but both times, the fight fell through for one reason or another.
Then Chisora was linked to a trilogy with longtime rival Dillian Whyte, who was coming off a one-round blowout to the highly regarded Moses Itauma. Frank Warren even got the two to face off on the Joseph Parker vs. Fabio Wardley broadcast, and we were told that the fight was targeted for December.
As time went by, an official announcement seemed less and less likely, and we then found out that the entire event had been scrapped.
In early December, a video was released of Chisora staring down with Deontay Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) at the IBA Men’s Boxing World Championships before they were both pulled apart by security, but after that, not a word more of a fight between the pair.
This month, some fresh reports came out that Chisora was the frontrunner for Fabio Wardley in the first defence of his recently-claimed WBO world title, whilst Oleksandr Usyk publicly called out Deontay Wilder and a deal was purportedly close to being over the line.
Then Dan Rafael poured cold water on those claims when he unveiled that Wilder’s manager, Shelly Finkel, had informed him that he had never even entered discussions regarding a fight with Usyk.
Shortly after this news broke, we then learned that Wilder-Chisora was back in play, and it is now understood that it will be taking place in London in April on a Kalle Sauerland promotion:
🚨 Been told that the much rumored Deontay Wilder-Derek Chisora heavyweight fight would be a Kalle Sauerland-promoted show if it were to be finalised. April 4 at London’s O2 is understood to be a potential date/venue for the bout. pic.twitter.com/PxW39u0qd7
— EverythingBoxing | Darshan Desai (@EverythingBoxi2) January 22, 2026
With the bout set to be on a promotion headed by Sauerland, it would appear that Chisora’s split from Frank Warren and his Queensberry Promotions stable has been confirmed.
A clash between Chisora  and ‘The Bronze Bomber’ will still draw a large audience at the touted venue of the O2 Arena, despite their age, as fans ponder whether Wilder is a busted flush or whether he has one more good punch in him to put the teak-tough Chisora away and earn a shot at the unified heavyweight throne.
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