‘I need a knockout’: Deontay Wilder vs Derek Chisora London presser highlights

Deontay Wilder vs Derek Chisora headlines a Misfits Pro card in association with Queensberry Promotions at the O2 Arena in London on April 4.

Both men will be fighting for the 50th time, with Chisora making it clear this is his retirement fight. Ahead of their heavyweight bout, both men met in London at a press conference, where Wilder made it clear he needed to win in style.

Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora set for 50th slobberknocker

Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) was the most feared puncher on the planet for a number of years, knocking out every opponent with his devastating right hand. “The Bronze Bomber” will be forever remembered for his memorable trilogy with Tyson Fury. Despite knocking Fury down in their trilogy, the Alabama native was unable to defeat “The Gypsy King.”

Back-to-back defeats against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang have come in recent years, with Wilder returning this past June, stopping Tyrrell Herndon in the seventh round.

Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs) has enjoyed a rollercoaster career, marked by numerous disappointing defeats. He has bravely fallen against the best, with losses against Oleksandr Usyk and Vitali Klitschko.

After his loss in 2022 against Tyson Fury, many believed that would be the end of “Del Boy.” Recent wins against Gerald Washington, Joe Joyce and Otto Wallin have revitalised his career and given Chisora his 50th fight against Wilder.

Deontay Wilder Quotes

Speaking at the London presser hosted by Adam Smith, Wilder discussed why he’s fighting 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.”

The importance of this bout is not lost on Wilder: “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.”

Talking about his mentality after the Fury fights, and getting back into the fighting mindset:

“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,” said Wilder.

Derek Chisora Quotes

Discussing the good-natured build-up to the fight, Chisora said:

“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 favourite things about this whole thing is I introduced him to fish and chips…he’s my boy.”

“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,” added Chisora.

“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,” said Wilder regarding this 50th bout against Wilder.

When asked who the star is in this fight, Chisora said:

“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.”