Deontay Wilder admits he needs Derek Chisora if he is to resurrect his career.
The 40-year-old ex-champion from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, meets Chisora on April 4 at London’s O2 Arena in the 50th fight of his career.
Chisora is also having his 50th – and he says final – fight, hence the show is billed as ‘100.’
At today’s London press conference, Wilder said: “I’m looking forward to the fight. I need this fight. I need Derek more than he needs me because of what he brings to the table. I need to see where I am. I feel like I’m back. I’ve been broken down and built back up all over again and here I am, with a smile on my face and my spirit so high that I can fly. And I’m looking forward to it.
“This is a must-win for me. Not only a win but I need a devastating win. I need a knockout. That’s what people come to see…. We have question marks on our backs because we’re unpredictable as fighters, but his style matches my style and mine matches his.
“He’s going to do whatever it takes to win and that’s what I need. I told Derek when we FaceTimed each other this is the last time. After this, we will be in the ring and after that it’s a fight.
“It’s a special moment. It’s his 50th fight, it’s my 50th fight, combined together it’s 100 fights. One is looking to retire and the other is looking to be the diamond in the rough.”
Wilder has won 44-4-1 (43 KOs) and still has designs to fight Oleksandr Usyk later this year.
Chisora, who has won 36 of his 49 fights, with 23 stoppages, is 42 years old, and was asked why there had been no bad blood in an amicable promotion this week.
“I think because we’re old,” Chisora smiled. “He’s 40, I’m in my forties. Can you imagine two grown men right now wrestling on the floor? You would be like, ‘What the hell is this?’ We want to sell this fight a different way. I don’t want to sell this fight on the point of violence. There’s too much violence in the world right now. We want to sell it based on the love between me and my brother here.”
Chisora said he had always wanted to fight Wilder, too, and first saw him live fighting Artur Szpilka in New York in 2016.
“I am taking it seriously. It’s the last fight, number 50,” he said, adding that Wilder might not get such a friendly reception when he returns to the UK for fight week.
The show marks the debut of MF Pro, the promotional outfit launching with Kalle Sauerland and Amer Abdallah at the helm, and they are working with Queensberry Promotions, who promote Chisora, to stage the fight.
“They’re in the twilight of their careers,” admitted Sauerland. “But when they were talking, I thought ‘What a crime it would be for this generation if they didn’t fight.’”
“I’m a fight fan and some fights have fight written all over them, and this is one of them,” said International Boxing Hall of Fame promoter Warren. “What I look at is the styles they bring to the fight and both of them are walk forward fighters, both of them come to fight. No backing up. As soon as that bell goes, it’s going to be a war. It’s going to be bombs away with the two of them and you are going to be on the edge of your seat.”
Shelley Finkel, Wilder’s long-time manager, said, “It’s a great test. I think my guy wins but I don’t think it’s easy by any means…. It’s something the fans will leave from thinking, ‘Wow, I’m glad I saw that…’ It’s a very dangerous fight and I’m glad I’m part of it.”
Abdallah said he expects a sold out O2 Arena in April.
