On April 4, at the O2 Arena in London, England, in the main event of the boxing evening organized by MF Pro, former WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) will face Derek Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs). Ahead of this event, Wilder and Chisora, both in their national flags, met face-to-face on Monday at Times Square as part of promoting their fight.
"I knew that as long as we all work in the same industry, we would have the opportunity to fight each other," said 40-year-old Wilder in an interview with BoxingScene about meeting Chisora. "The heavyweight division is a small division, so we can have three, four, five, six fights and get quality bouts. I didn’t think it was incredible because it should have happened many years ago."
"This fight will be exciting from the first to the last round, if it reaches the last round," added Wilder. "In such a fight, I don't think it will go the distance. I would be very surprised if it goes to the finals where the judges have to decide who wins and who loses."
After Chisora, one of the few remaining fighters Wilder has not yet faced is Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian heavyweight champion who was the undisputed champion in both the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions.
"I think this fight will happen. He has already made it clear that I am the last missing piece of the puzzle," Wilder stated. "And I think I agree with that too. You know, it's not that he needs me to continue his legacy or achieve outstanding success in business, because he already has that without me. But I understand what he means by talking about our era, about the opportunity to fight and compete with everyone, because I want to do the same. It's wonderful to be able to offer the best that was in the coming era and then retire."
