Derek Chisora is one fight away from retirement, as his career has seen an Indian summer with wins over Otto Wallin and Joe Joyce in his last two fights.
Derek Chisora remains one of Britain’s most beloved fighters as he nears his 50th fight. His record of 36-13 includes match-ups with some of boxing’s biggest names, including Dillian Whyte, Tyson Fury, Kubrat Pulev, Joseph Parker, and many more.
He comes off two of his biggest wins in Otto Wallin and Joe Joyce, and is gearing up for his farewell fight which could land sometime this year or the next.
Eddie Hearn recently spoke on Chisora’s new podcast about his favorite story regarding Del Boy, which involved a very expensive trick played by the British icon.
Derek Chisora feigned a shoulder injury ahead of career-defining win to earn extra £50K
In 2018, in between his first and second fights with Dillian Whyte, Chisora was scheduled to face Carlos Takam.
Chisora told Hearn, through their mutual friend Tony Bellew, ahead of the fight that he had a shoulder injury that could cause him to withdraw from the fight.
Hearn knew Chisora was hoping for more money, but believed the injury was real. He told Bellew that Chisora could be replaced with a different British heavyweight, David Price.
Chisora called Hearn directly at this point, prompting Hearn to confront him and ask how much money it would take for him to go ahead with the fight.
Hearn said in the podcast, “‘I’m like, Del, how much do you want?’ […] He didn’t even go ‘It ain’t about the money’, he just goes, ‘I want another fifty grand’. […] This never happens, you never renegotiate a purse on fight week.”
Hearn revealed that he did give Chisora the extra money, but was embarrassed when, after Chisora stopped Takam in a career-best performance, got on the microphone in front of the entire venue and announced that the injury was a ploy to get more money, and never existed to begin with.
Hearn recalled entering the ring after the fight, “I went ‘He’s a warrior, and he won’t say it. He went into that fight, he shouldn’t have even been fighting tonight because of his shoulder injury’ […] He just went ‘I was just saying that to get more money’ […] You can hear the whole arena just laughing.”
Derek Chisora has a history against the biggest names in boxing
Now considered nothing more than a gatekeeper, Chisora, who claims Dubois quit against Usyk, has become an icon in British boxing for never failing to duck a challenge.
Chisora turned down the Moses Itauma fight, and could face a Daniel Dubois, Joseph Parker, or Deontay Wilder in his career finale. Ahead of his farewell fight, it’s worth taking a look at some of Chisora’s biggest fights against the heavyweight division’s most talented names.
2011 – Tyson Fury – L UD
2012 – Vitali Klitschko – L UD
2012 – David Haye – L TKO5
2014 – Tyson Fury – L RTD10
2016 – Kubrat Pulev – L SD
2016 – Dillian Whyte – L SD
2017 – Agit Kabayel – L MD
2018 – Carlos Takam – W TKO8
2018 – Dillian Whyte – L KO11
2019 – David Price – W TKO4
2020 – Oleksandr Usyk – L UD
2021 – Joseph Parker – L SD
2021 – Joseph Parker – L UD
2022 – Kubrat Pulev – W SD
2022 – Tyson Fury – L TKO10
2024 – Joe Joyce – W UD
2025 – Otto Wallin – W UD