Wilder Calls Out Joshua After Points Win Over Chisora

Deontay Wilder wasted no time delivering his message. Moments after the final bell sounded at London's O2 Arena on Saturday, the American heavyweight made his way through the arena floor and confronted Anthony Joshua face-to-face, turning a split-decision victory over Derek Chisora into an unmistakable call-out.

"Let's do it. He's scared as f***," Wilder said as he passed Joshua, making his position public without ceremony or mediation. At his post-fight press conference, Wilder described the encounter in characteristically direct terms: "It wasn't an exchange. I mean, it wasn't a few words. I dapped it up with him and said: 'Now let's get it on'. It was simple as that."

Wilder edged a split-decision win over Chisora in a scrappy but entertaining heavyweight brawl, putting himself back in the conversation for world title fights. Wilder, now 45-4-1 with 43 knockouts, scored two knockdowns but had a point taken off in a chaotic and emotional night in London. The official scorecards read 115-111 and 115-113 for Wilder, with one judge scoring it 112-115 for Chisora.

The bout was billed as "100," with both fighters making their 50th professional ring walk. Wilder suffered a suspected broken right hand early in the fight that would have limited his power, but it was an important result for the 40-year-old. Only the second time in his career that Wilder has won on points, the performance lacked the knockout fireworks that made his reputation, but it confirmed he remains relevant at the sport's highest level. "I'm a king and I showed that tonight," Wilder said in the ring. "The punches are absorbed and I came back. It's all about having fun. I had to heal. It took a long time for me to heal, but I'm back."

The presence of Joshua at ringside added a charged backdrop to the evening before a punch had even been thrown. Joshua was making his first public appearance since the death of two close friends in a car crash in Nigeria in December 2025. He attended to support Chisora, with whom he shares roots at the Finchley amateur boxing club, and whose career is now managed by Joshua's own company. When the two heavyweights crossed paths in a corridor earlier in the evening, as Joshua was making his way to ringside, Wilder went straight past him without any acknowledgement.

The two fighters reportedly reached an agreement on a fight in 2024, though issues surfaced before Wilder eventually lost to Joseph Parker. Wilder confirmed he remained interested in facing Joshua as recently as December 2025. Joshua has no immediate response on the night, and no agreement was reached. The exchange lasted seconds. The reaction around it will last longer.

For Wilder, a clash against unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk or WBO titleholder Fabio Wardley are also considered potential options, but neither carries the commercial weight of Joshua. With Joshua reportedly targeting a July return, Wilder may have just created one of boxing's biggest possible heavyweight matchups.

Chisora, 42, was fighting for the final time and came in approximately 40 pounds heavier than Wilder but six inches shorter. After the final bell, he indicated the fight had taken its toll and suggested he may not continue his career, bringing the curtain down on a heavyweight era. Wilder's chapter, it seems, is far from over.