Heavyweights Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder visited London, U.K., to promote their heavyweight fight, which will take place at the O2 Arena, live and exclusively on DAZN.
It isn’t the heavyweight fight fans hoped for, but it can be argued that both Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) and Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs) are nearing the end of their careers, making this matchup sensible. Both fighters need a victory to keep their careers going, as a loss could potentially lead to retirement.
Wilder has been in the news recently for once again bringing up Tyson Fury’s cheating allegations, and Chisora continued the discussion by bringing a life-sized poster of Fury during one of their face-offs. This is likely to spark social media and boost awareness about his fight with Chisora.
Below, you will find quotes from both Wilder and Chisora as they prepare to battle in two months.
Deontay Wilder
On why this fight against Derek Chisora and why now…
“I believe in divine timing. Why not here? Some of the best boxing fans in the world live here. We have the O2 Arena, Derek Chisora, and I’m looking forward to this…I need it. I need Derek more than he needs me. I feel like I’ve been broken down and rebuilt, with high spirits. I can’t wait.”
On this being a must-win fight…
“This is definitely a must win for me. Not only a win, but I need a devastating win. I need a knockout. I don’t want anyone to get our friendship misconstrued – we don’t fake it. That said, when fight night arrives, everything will switch off. You will see two enemies in the ring that are going to try to whoop each other. I told Derek [Chisora], ‘I want you to try to kill me,’ because I need that.”
On why he has so much respect for Derek Chisora…
“Respect is earned and not given. This is another man who risks his life in the ring. This is all I ever felt from him. When you get out of the ring and release that energy, it brings you closer. I think this fight will bring us even closer.”
On who is the star of this fight…
“I don’t think one name is bigger than the other. Many guys wouldn’t fight their friends, so you know we have sick minds to want to fight each other like this.”
On if he can get back into his fighting mentality after the Fury fight…
That mentality is there and ready to bust out. It will be there on April 4. I’ve been through a lot outside of the ring. I’ve had to do a lot of work mentally. We’re fighters but we’re not robots. We have lives outside of boxing and emotions. In life, no one person has it all figured out. But here I am now, rebuilding myself. I still have more left. The fire is still in me and it will show.”
Derek Chisora
On why the buildup to the fight seems so cool and casual…
“We’re old – can you imagine two grown men wrestling? We want to sell this fight in a different way. There’s so much love between me and him [Deontay Wilder]…I always wanted to fight him. One of my favorite things about this whole thing is I introduced him to fish and chips…he’s my boy.”
On finally getting to see this matchup…
“If fighters speak to each other then fights would be happening. If you want to fight somebody, speak to them yourself. I’m just happy me and him [Deontay Wilder] are fighting and that Frank [Warren] is with me today.”
On what his last fight holds…
“Right now we’re just happy to be in the same room hanging out with each other. But when he [Deontay Wilder] arrives in April for that first press conference, it’s done. The friendship is out the window. Then after four, five, six rounds, when we hug and shake, we’ll be back as brothers.”
On who is the star in this fight…
“We are both the stars. I believe if he [Deontay Wilder] wasn’t here, we probably wouldn’t have this big crowd here. He has better knockouts than me, so I think he’s a bigger star than me.”
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