Deontay Wilder is America’s ‘hardest punching heavyweight’ – but one Derek Chisora quality could result in huge KO

Derek Chisora’s supreme endurance has been tipped to cause Deontay Wilder serious bother as predictions flood in for the heavyweight clash.

Chisora fights Wilder at London’s O2 Arena on Saturday for what could potentially be both men’s last appearance in the squared circle.

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The huge Britain vs America clash also marks the 50th time both Chisora, 36-13, and Wilder, 44-4-1, have contested professional boxing fights.

Chisora, who hasn’t lost since being stopped by Tyson Fury in 2022, is the favourite across most oddsmakers to get the job done.

Wilder, meanwhile, has only won three of his previous seven bouts, stopping Tyrell Hendon in his return to the ring last June after being brutally knocked out by Zhilei Zhang.

And although ‘The Bronze Bomber’ possesses a legacy highly regarded among purists, he has been widely counted out by the boxing fraternity, for when he enters enemy territory.

Fans in store for a Wild night

To offer the view from across the water, founder of Fight Hub TV Marcos Villegas joined Ally McCoist and Andy Townsend on talkSPORT Breakfast on Tuesday.

Although Villegas views Wilder as the ‘hardest punching heavyweight’ in American history, he believes the 40-year-old could be in for a tough night.

“It’s a tough one,” Villegas explained.

“I want to say, just based on the last fight that they’ve both had… I’m impressed with Chisora.

“Chisora’s got a gas tank that goes and goes and goes.

“If he puts that pace on there and he’s really in shape against Deontay, I really worry for Deontay and what could potentially happen in this fight for him, to be honest.”

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Should Wilder have lost to Hendon in his last fight, it’s unlikely we would’ve seen him return to the ring again.

Fans have noted that the American has never been the same since his iconic trilogy with Fury, which still strikes a nerve with Wilder, as highlighted by his outburst at Simon Jordan on talkSPORT last month.

“I know over here in the States, fans have questioned why he’s continuing to fight,” Villegas added.

“And fans have called for him to retire, saying, ‘Maybe you’ve seen better days.’

“Those Fury fights, the three fights, took a lot out of Deontay.

“He didn’t look great against Zhang. In the last fight that he had, he didn’t look too good either. Why continue fighting? 

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“I guess it depends how he loses, right? If he gets knocked out, then obviously [he should retire].

“But if he’s in there competitive and he looks decent, maybe he could stretch it out a little bit more.”

No matter what happens in London, Wilder will leave the sweet science with a legacy very much intact.

All but one of Wilder’s 44 victories in the ring have come by KO, with a 2016 stoppage of Artur Szpilka and a first-round obliteration of Robert Helenius filling a long highlight reel of monstrous stoppages.

Despite his dominant reign, Villegas wouldn’t put ‘The Bronze Bomber’ up there with the best to do it in American heavyweight history.

Not amongst the best

“I want to say this in the most respectful way possible: he’s not in the echelon of a Mike Tyson, of a Joe Frazier, of a George Foreman, of the greats,” Villegas concluded.

“Though what I can say in comparison to all the heavyweights in history, pound for pound, he’s probably the hardest punching heavyweight.

“And credit to him, he ignited the heavyweight scene in America when it was completely dull and dead, so I think fans are grateful to Wilder because of that.

“But if you rank him amongst the [greats], I feel like that’s a hard task to put him in that same category, given the skills and the fights we’ve seen from Deontay.

“But in terms of knockout power and what he did to reinvigorate, tip of the cap to him in terms of that.”

talkSPORT will have live commentary of Chisora vs Wilder during a Fight Night Special.

Coverage starts at 7pm on talkSPORT 2 before it moves to talkSPORT at 10pm, with John Rawling, Spencer Oliver, Adam Catterall and Gareth A Davies in the commentary booth.

Boxing schedule

For all the upcoming fights and results this year, check out talkSPORT.com’s  boxing schedule.