Deontay Wilder Says He Needs Derek Chisora to Save Career

Deontay Wilder is no longer talking like a former heavyweight champion planning a return. At this point, the 40 year old Deontay is talking like a fighter trying to stop the slide and find out what, if anything, is still there.

At Thursday’s London press conference, Wilder admitted openly that his career now depends on Derek Chisora. He did not present it as hype or positioning. He said it plainly, as something he needs.

“I need this fight. I need Derek more than he needs me because of what he brings to the table,” Wilder said. “I need to see where I am. I feel like I’m back. I’ve been broken down and built back up all over again, and here I am, with a smile on my face and my spirit so high that I can fly.”

Those were not the words of a fighter dictating terms or managing leverage. They sounded closer to someone trying to prove he still belongs at all.

Wilder meets Derek Chisora on April 4 at London’s O2 Arena, with both men entering the 50th fight of their careers. That shared milestone has driven the “100” branding for the show, but the meaning is uneven. For Chisora, it is an ending. For Wilder, it looks more like a last checkpoint.

Wilder arrives with his standing in the division badly eroded. He has lost four of his last five fights, three by stoppage, and the intimidation that once followed him into the ring has faded. What remains is power and reputation, and neither can carry a fighter indefinitely without confirmation.

Wilder did not try to talk around that reality. He called the bout a must win and narrowed the terms even further.

“This is a must win for me,” he said. “Not only a win, but I need a devastating win. I need a knockout. That’s what people come to see.”

Once defined by inevitability, Deontay Wilder now enters a fight with visible doubt attached. His record still shows 44 wins and 43 knockouts, but recent damage has changed how those numbers are read. Talk of future opportunities, including his stated interest in Oleksandr Usyk, only carries weight if Wilder first shows he is still dangerous in real terms.

Chisora, now 42, has taken a different approach. He has treated the bout as his final appearance and kept the promotion unusually calm. Asked why there has been no hostility, he brushed it off with humor tied to age and perspective.

“I think because we’re old,” Chisora said. “He’s 40, I’m in my forties. Can you imagine two grown men right now wrestling on the floor? You would be like, ‘What the hell is this?’”

That tone does not signal softness. Chisora warned Wilder not to expect warmth once fight week begins and said he is taking the bout seriously. He noted that he has wanted this matchup since watching Wilder stop Artur Szpilka in New York in 2016, and his own record of 36 wins with 23 stoppages reflects the type of fight he brings.

The event also serves as the launch show for MF Pro, led by Kalle Sauerland and Amer Abdallah, working alongside Queensberry Promotions. Sauerland acknowledged that both fighters are late in their careers but said it would have been a miss for the era if they never met.

Veteran promoter Frank Warren focused on mechanics rather than sentiment, pointing to two fighters who move forward and do not back up. Wilder’s longtime manager Shelly Finkel described it as a dangerous test and said fans would leave satisfied.

For Wilder, satisfaction is beside the point. He said he needs Chisora because Chisora will not allow him to coast or hide behind his reputation. The fight will force an answer either way, and Wilder appears to understand that this time, there is no room left to maneuver.