Apr 03, 2026
3 min read
Saturday brought Chisora's retirement against Wilder, who famously accused Tyson Fury of throwing the gloves.
Chisora and Wilder suffered glove issues ahead of their very heated heavyweight clash.
Derek Chisora's highly anticipated retirement fight was marred by late drama on Friday, with Deonte Wilder taking issue with his glove.
Chisora will face former world champion Wilder on Saturday at the O2 in London, but Friday raised concerns.
Saturday's event is being organized by MF Pro, co-sponsored by Wasserman's boss Sauerland, who heard about a potential glove problem the day before the fight and the promoter confirmed there was a problem.
"First of all, there's no panic on the Titanic, it's not our first rodeo," Sauerland told iFL TV.“Also, this is not the first time that there is a lot of excitement around big heavyweight fights and gloves.
"This is also not the first fight Deontay Wilder has involved gloves in," Sauerland added, referring to previous allegations of glove tampering against the American boxer's three-time opponent Tyson Fury; those claims have always been denied by Fury. "So yes, it was very simple. Yes, there was some drama at the weigh-in this morning."
At the evening weigh-ins, Wilder accepted responsibility for filing the appeal, saying, "That was my problem, I've broken my arm several times and the gloves that came with it... as you can see, I've had all the surgeries... I just want to be comfortable in the ring. The problem was the gloves being too tight on our hands. We'll see what I want to do, I want to fix. Comfortable [where] there's no excuse."
The Independent has now learned that these issues are believed to have been resolved.
Sauerland spoke to iFL TV about the morning weigh-in, which was traditionally held behind closed doors, and the general weigh-in held on Friday night.Chisora tipped the scales at 266.7 pounds before Wilder came in at 226.4 pounds.
After their weigh-in, the two fighters faced off, with Chisora wearing an angry mask and saying he had a "game of heart" against Wilder.
Chisora, 42, has vowed to retire after Saturday's main event, although retirement has looked a daunting prospect for the former world title challenger in recent years.Meanwhile, some fans and pundits believe Wilder should also retire this weekend, but the 40-year-old has hinted he will continue boxing regardless of the outcome.
Wilder previously accused the Briton of tampering with his gloves in three fights. Wilder fought Fury to a controversial draw in 2018 before defeating "Gypsy King" in 2020 and 2021 - the American's first career loss.
Wilder has since lost to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, but also knocked out Robert Helenius and Tyrrell's Anthony Herndon.As such, he will enter the O2 Arena 2-4 in his last six fights.
Some fans will wonder how Chisora, who arrived at Thursday's press conference in a tank alongside controversial British reformist politician Nigel Farage, will enter the O2 Arena.
Chisora last fought inFebruary 2025 by defeating Otto Wallin in Manchester.At the time, this fight was announced as Chisora's last fight in the UK.
