Former three-weight world champion Duke McKenzie believes a mooted matchup between Fabio Wardley and Derek Chisora can only end in one-sided fashion.
Chisora has emerged as one of the leading candidates to face Wardley, the newly-crowned WBO heavyweight champion, who gained his belt towards the end of last year.
This came about after Oleksandr Usyk, the bona fide heavyweight king, vacated the WBO world title instead of fulfilling his mandatory obligation.
As a result, Wardley, who claimed the interim belt with an 11th round stoppage of Joseph Parker in October, was swiftly elevated to full WBO champion.
Prior to that, the Ipswich man clinched victory from the jaws of defeat against Justis Huni, landing a crushing 10th round right hand to halt proceedings in stunning fashion.
This performance followed a far more devastating spectacle when, in October 2024, Wardley engineered a brutal first-round finish in his rematch with Frazer Clarke.
So now, with the 31-year-old having amassed a string of emphatic stoppages, many are questioning whether heavyweight veteran Chisora is a viable opponent for his maiden title defence.
The 42-year-old has claimed points victories over Otto Wallin, Joe Joyce and Gerald Washington since his punishing 10th round stoppage defeat to Tyson Fury in 2022.
But still, as he looks to secure his 50th professional outing, many believe that Chisora would be making a mistake by facing Wardley.
One man who shares this view is British boxing legend McKenzie, who told Boxing Social that the Londoner is simply ‘not going to beat’ Wardley.
“Derek Chisora’s made it no secret he wants his last fight to be for the heavyweight championship of the world.
“In that respect, it’s quite romantic for Derek – he’s going to get his wish. [But] he’s not going to beat Fabio Wardley.
“Fabio Wardley, right now, they should make him president of the ‘Who Needs Him Club’. Nobody needs Fabio; he’s a menace for anybody.
“When you win the world title, you get an extra air of confidence. Fabio was confident before he won the world title. I can imagine what he’s going to be like now.”
While Wardley’s first WBO title defence is yet to be confirmed, a fight against Chisora does appear to be a likely option.
