“He could just be completely shot to pieces, or he could come back and give an amazing performance and knock Chisora out in a couple of rounds,” Hearn said to iFL TV.’
Wilder has struggled recently, going 2-3 in his last five fights. After the Fury trilogy, he suffered losses to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang. If his timing and reflexes have faded, Hearn suggests he could look “completely shot to pieces.”
Even in victory against a largely unknown opponent like Tyrell Anthony Herndon last year, Wilder didn’t look like the “Bronze Bomber” of 2015. Taking seven rounds to stop a guy who had been dusted in two rounds by prospect Richard Torrez Jr. suggests the explosive power has dimmed.
By suggesting Wilder might be “shot,” Hearn is providing an excuse for the recent string of losses that doesn’t involve questioning Wilder’s fundamental ability. If a fighter is “shot,” it implies they were once an elite who has simply been betrayed by their body.
Outside of Luis Ortiz, who was roughly 39 and 40 when they fought, and Bermane Stiverne, Wilder’s 10 title defenses came against “B-side” opponents. When he finally stepped up to the current elite, Parker, Zhang, and a peak-form Fury, he went 0-4. It’s hard to say someone is “shot” when they are simply losing at the level they perhaps belonged at all along.
In Wilder’s losses to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, he looked timid. This wasn’t a case of his chin failing or his legs giving out. He stopped pulling the trigger. Even in his June 2025 win against Tyrell Anthony Herndon, Wilder looked hesitant.
Fury’s struggles with Francis Ngannou and his loss to Oleksandr Usyk have retrospectively damaged Wilder’s stock. If the best version of Wilder couldn’t beat a version of Fury that we now see has significant technical and physical holes, it suggests Wilder’s ceiling was lower than the hype suggested.
By using the “shot” narrative, Hearn and other promoters avoid the more uncomfortable conversation: Wilder was a one-trick pony whose trick has been figured out.
Derek Chisora is 42 and has 13 losses. He is the definition of a “gatekeeper.” If Wilder is truly the elite force he claimed to be during his five-year title reign, he should be able to dispose of Chisora with ease, regardless of age.
If Wilder struggles or looks “timid” again, it will likely confirm that the “Bronze Bomber” era was more about optics and matchmaking than pound-for-pound greatness.
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