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Derek Chisora’s much-anticipated retirement fight has been hit by late drama, with Deontay Wilder raising a glove issue on Friday.
British heavyweight Chisora is due to face former world champion Wilder on Saturday, with the pair headlining at London’s O2 Arena, but the lead-up to Friday evening’s weigh-in brought reason for concern.
Saturday’s event is being organised by MF Pro, which is co-run by Wasserman chief Sauerland, who was asked about a potential glove issue on Friday. And the promoter confirmed that such a problem had arisen.
“First of all, no panic on the Titanic here, it’s not our first rodeo,” Sauerland told iFL TV. “It’s also not the first time there’s been a big flare-up around big heavyweight fights and gloves.
“It’s also not the first fight ever involving Deontay Wilder, involving gloves,” Sauerland added, referencing the American boxer’s past glove-tampering allegations against three-time opponent Tyson Fury – allegations that Fury has always denied.
“So yeah, it was all too plain sailing,” Sauerland continued. “Yes, there were some dramatics this morning at the weigh-in. There’s some issues around the gloves, I can confirm that. I can’t really say much more to what those dramas were. Let me go and do my job!” Sauerland laughed.
At the evening weigh-in, Wilder took responsibility for raising the complaint, saying: “It was my issue, I’ve broken my hand so many times, and the glove that was provided… As you can see, all the surgeries that I’ve had… I just want to be comfortable in the ring.
“We had an issue with the gloves being too tight on my hands. We’re gonna see what happens, we’ll get it straightened out. I just wanna be right, I wanna be comfortable [to] where there’s no excuses.”
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Chisora claimed it was the first he was hearing of the problem. The Independent understands that event organisers are “hopeful” the issues will be resolved, but that a resolution is yet to be confirmed.
In his interview with iFL TV, Sauerland referred to the morning weigh-in, which took place behind closed doors as is customary, while the public weigh-in took place on Friday night. It saw Chisora tip the scales at 266.7lb, before Wilder came in at 226.4lb.
After weighing in, both fighters faced off, with Chisora wearing a Fury mask and declaring it a “mind game” against Wilder.
Chisora, 42, has vowed to retire after Saturday’s main event, although retirement has seemed a daunting prospect to the former world-title challenger in recent years. Meanwhile, some fans and pundits feel that Wilder should also retire this weekend, but the 40-year-old has suggested he will keep boxing regardless of the result.
Wilder previously accused Fury of tampering with the Briton’s own gloves during their three-fight rivalry. Wilder secured a controversial draw with Fury in 2018, before suffering stoppage losses to the “Gypsy King” in 2020 and 2021 – the first defeats of the American’s career.
Wilder has lost to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang since then, but he has also knocked out Robert Helenius and Tyrrell Anthony Herndon. As such, he will enter the O2 Arena on a 2-4 run in his last six bouts.
Some fans will wonder how Chisora will enter the O2 Arena, given he arrived at Thursday’s press conference in a tank, accompanied by controversial Reform UK politician Nigel Farage.
Chisora last fought in February 2025, dropping and outpointing Otto Wallin in Manchester. At the time, that fight was billed as Chisora’s final contest in the UK.
