Two interesting bouts that this observer properly referred to as “Crossroad Fights” kicked off the month of April 2026 on April 4th in New South Wales, Australia and London, England respectively. This column will begin with the bout that occurred in Australia as former WBO Jr. Middleweight world champion Tim Tazyu returned to action, this time as a Middleweight as he faced the unbeaten Denis Nurja in a fight scheduled for ten rounds.
Despite moving up six pounds to the Middleweight division from the Jr. Middleweight weight class that he had competed in for his entire career, and facing an undefeated, yet largely unknown opponent, Tszyu applied pressure from the opening bell, consistently backing Nurja up with an attack to the body and head that kept Nurja on the defensive. After suffering a cut below his left eye as a result of an accidental clash of heads, Tszyu dropped Nurja with a flush left hook followed by two right hands in the fourth round. Although the former world champion made an effort to press the issue in an attempt to get a stoppage, to his credit Nurja, despite not having an answer to halt the constant pressure, showed his mettle by not only surviving the knockdown and follow-up from Tszyu, but managed to go the full ten rounds.
The victory for Tszyu, a shut out on all three official scorecards, was not only his second victory since being stopped in his rematch with WBC Jr. Middleweight world champion Sebastian Fundora in the summer of last year, but also served as the type of performance one would aim for in their first outing in a new weight division. Especially a division in the Middleweights that appears to be heading towards a period of transition as 2026 goes on. Before discussing Tszyu’s potential options moving forward after a performance where he was in control from start to finish, the time has come to discuss the second bout that took place on April 4th that occurred in London, England.
This observer is referring to the high stakes Heavyweight bout between longtime Heavyweight contender Derek Chisora and former WBC Heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder, which took place at the O2 Arena. A fight that was promoted as the coincidental fiftieth fight for each fighter in their respective careers, was the definition of a “Crossroads Fight.” One fighter in Chisora insisting that whatever happened win or lose, he would retire after the fight, despite holding a mandatory challenger position in the IBF Heavyweight ratings, and a former world champion who was trying to also get back in line for another chance to regain a world title.
What occurred was the definition of a brawl, which was ugly at times, but provided entertainment and drama as both fighters had their moments throughout. Chisora, the former two-time world title challenger, as always showed no intimidation as he immediately applied pressure on the taller and longer Wilder, who is known as one of the most devastating power punchers in the history of the Heavyweight division. Chisora’s pressure set up the tempo of the combat where both fighters were content to stay in close and trade punches, which also set up significant grappling on the inside and roughhousing between the two.
This also led to some heated exchanges of punches between the two fighters where both men landed flush shots on the other. As I watched this encounter, it became evident very early in the bout that unless there was a knockout one way or the other, there would be a conundrum to try and sort out when it came to the scoring of the fight. The constant pressure of Chisora, the ability to consistently back Wilder up and land hard punches, or Wilder’s ability to seemingly land harder blows particularly in exchanges of punches. While I always keep a mental score in terms of how I see things whenever I watch a fight regardless of whether I am covering it or not, based on decades of experience having covered thousands of fights on every level imaginable in the sport. By the midway point of the twelve round bout, my focus was not on who may have been leading on the scorecards, but rather on whether we would see a stoppage as the fight progressed.
It truly was a grueling give and take battle that had to have been exhausting for both fighters. As there always seems to be in Boxing, however, a great and entertaining fight would have an element of controversy attached to it. In the eighth round, Chisora stunned Wilder with a right hand that landed flush on the head when he had the former world champion briefly neutralized in his corner. Wilder responded with heavy blows of his own that sent Chisora across the ring staggering as Wilder pressed forward continuing to land punches and ultimately would be credited with a knockdown as he knocked Chosora through the ropes. Chisora was able to get himself together and the fight continued. When Wilder pressed forward attempting to force a stoppage, in being overly aggressive he sent Chisora through the ropes again, but this time pushed him through the ropes. This led to Referee Mark Bates to deduct a point from Wilder for pushing. Wilder himself would take a trip to the canvas later in the fight for what was ruled a slip.
Wilder would score a second knockdown of Chisora in round eleven and ultimately, that second knockdown would allow him to get over the finish line in earning an extremely hard fought and grueling twelve round split decision over Chisora. While the events of a wild, no pun intended, eighth round has been subject to controversy in the eyes of some, the call of Mark Bates to deduct a point from Wilder was proper. It can be hard at times in the midst of a heated battle, such as this was, to remain focused if you are a referee, particularly when you not only have to deal with the two fighters in front of you, but also the atmosphere of a loud and excited crowd. Although I do not believe Deontay Wilder pushed Derek Chisora intentionally as he was obviously trying to force a stoppage and was in the midst of throwing punches, pushing an opponent is indeed illegal either as a hurt fighter trying to avoid being knocked down or knocked out, or as a fighter looking for a knockout. As such, even if it was a circumstance of bad timing in the eyes of some, Bates did make the correct call. The issue of the events of round eight aside, this was a fight that more than lived up to every expectation and it would not surprise me as Derek Chisora did not outright retire after the fight and appeared to be going back and forth on the subject, if we see a rematch perhaps later this year, especially if there is money on the table and interest in a rematch is there.
Turning our attention briefly back to the first fight that was covered in this column in closing, Tim Tszyu finds himself in a unique position as he is now competing as a Middleweight and the division may indeed be entering a period of transition as WBC world champion Carlos Adames, fresh off of a recent title defense over Austin Williams in March, has announced his intention to vacate his title and move up to the 168lb. Super-Middleweight division, which would leave an opening in the WBC Middleweight ratings and the former unbeaten unified world champion of the division, WBO/IBF world champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly currently being idle after testing positive for a banned substance, subsequently being suspended, and likely to be stripped of both titles he holds, there will certainly be room for Tszyu to try to maneuver his way into a title shot, particularly because he has name recognition value and did win a world title previously in his career as a Jr. Middleweight. It is not hard to envision the likelihood that Tszyu could be fighting for a vacated world title by the end of this year, despite just debuting in the division.
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