The IBF ordered heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois to defend against his mandatory, Derek Chisora, next, giving them 30 days until May 22nd to negotiate a deal before a purse bid takes place.
Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) has the option of taking a unification fight next to avoid having to fight Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs). Eventually, he will have to defend against him if he holds onto his IBF title. Dubois is interested in fighting unified three-belt champion Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed title to avenge his ninth-round knockout loss from 2023.
That’s a much bigger fight for Dubois than facing the 41-year-old journeyman Chisora, who had an easy path to earn his IBF mandatory status by beating Otto Wallin by a 12-round unanimous decision on February 8th in a title eliminator.
Safety Concerns
There are a lot of fans who are concerned that Chisora could get badly hurt by Dubois, as he’s too old, slow, and deteriorated physically for him to have any shot at winning. Fans think Chisora is just taking the fight for a final payday to add to his wealth.
The IBF has taken a lot of criticism from the boxing public for making the Chisora-Wallin fight a title eliminator. Chisora had a 3-4 record in his seven previous fights going into the IBF title eliminator against Wallin, and his recent victories were against 39-year-old Joe Joyce and 42-year-old Gerald Washington.
Those were not solid enough wins for the fight to be a title eliminator. Joyce had lost two out of his three previous fights before fighting Chisora, and he was seen as damaged goods after being knocked out twice by Zhilei Zhang.
Despite being a journeyman with 13 losses, Chisora is a millionaire. The Sun reports that his net worth is around $12 million from his long 18-year career.
NEWS: IBF Wednesday ordered heavyweight titlist Daniel Dubois to next face mandatory Derek Chisora. 30 days (until May 22) to make deal or purse bid will be ordered. Until it’s ordered, Dubois can still get an exception for unification with Usyk that remains in the works. #boxing
— Dan Rafael (@DanRafael1) April 23, 2025
Last Updated on 04/23/2025
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