When heavyweight contenders Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora met at the final pre-fight news conference ahead of their first fight two years ago this month, it degenerated into a mess.
They had harsh words for each other and it ended with Chisora picking up a section of the head table and launching it at Chisora. Fortunately, nobody was injured as it flew over several others at the dais.
Two days later, British countrymen Whyte and Chisora put on a battle for the ages, one that Whyte won by split decision — 115-114, 115-113 in his favor and 115-114 for Chisora — in a fight that included an epic fifth round, which was the 2016 ESPN.com round of the year.
When they met head-to-head Thursday at the final pre-fight news conference before their rematch Saturday (Showtime, 5 p.m. ET) at the O2 Arena in London, the scene was much more serene.
Both men had their say but kept it professional, knowing how much is on the line. While the fight isn’t an official title eliminator, the winner could land a shot at three-belt heavyweight world titleholder Anthony Joshua later this year, especially if Whyte wins.
“I think the tables are screwed down so you won’t have to worry about that,” Chisora joked Thursday. “I don’t think I’m going to do that anymore. I do something when I want to do something and now I’m just happy that training’s gone well and everyone’s fine in my camp.
“I’m going to bring the same game I do for every fight and we’re going to come to fight. His coach [Mark Tibbs] says that his fighter will be a boxer and all of that. But truly he’s not in the ring and Dillian’s the one that has to fight and he’s going to try to run, or he can meet me in the middle, which would be great for me. Whatever game plan they have is fine. We will come in and seek and destroy.”
Whyte, the favorite, suffered his only loss by seventh-round stoppage to Joshua in 2015 in the fight before Joshua won a world title. He knows a win could propel him into a rematch for the big prize and he is confident he will take Chisora apart.
“There are levels to this thing and my levels just keep rising. I keep improving. Derek will see how strong I am come Saturday night,” Whyte said. “This is boxing and I’m used to people saying, ‘I’m going to do this or that’ to get into my head. I’ve been around long enough and heard fighters say ‘I’m going to come out banging in the first round,’ and then they come and do something else. So I don’t think Derek himself knows what he’s doing or where he’s going.
“I respect everyone. It’s a tough job getting in the ring. I respect everyone from the journeyman to the world champion of the sport.”
Whyte (24-1, 17 KOs), 30, has won eight fights in a row since the loss to Joshua, and four in a row since the first victory over Chisora, including a hard-fought decision over former world titlist Joseph Parker in his last fight in July, to move oh, so close to a potential rematch with Joshua.
“The Whyte fight is a big fight for Anthony, but I will stress again the one fight we want is with [titleholder Deontay] Wilder. We’re talking now,” said Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who also promotes Joshua. “People shouldn’t assume the rematch [between Wilder and] Fury is happening because the deal won’t be that easy. It never is for a fight of that size. It all depends really on Wilder; if he wants to be undisputed and if that matters to him. He can fight Fury after if he believes he can beat AJ. We don’t get chances very often to have undisputed champions, and that’s what everyone wants.”
Chisora (29-8, 21 KOs), 34, who lost a 2012 world title fight to Vitali Klitschko, is 3-1 since the fight with Whyte. But in his last fight on the same card as Whyte-Parker, Chisora impressively stopped former title challenger Carlos Takam in the eighth round, two rounds sooner than Joshua knocked him out in Takam’s previous fight.
“The winner of this fight Saturday night is so important to the global heavyweight scene and so much is at stake,” Hearn said. “I think the crowd is going to be with Chisora. You know the British fans love the underdog. What makes this fight intriguing to the average fan is that these guys are both characters and very entertaining fighters. At the first fight I sat next to Wladimir Klitschko and he said, ‘I don’t think this fight is going to be very good.’ And after three rounds we looked at each other just shaking our heads.”
The fighters said they expect another cracker come Saturday.
“The first fight was a great fight. The boxing fans loved it,” Chisora said. “My brain cells didn’t love it, but I enjoyed it. We are going to drown him from the get-go. We know he’s fit, but we want to see how fit he is. We’re going to go boom from the gates. I don’t want this to go to points. I’m going to knock the sucker out. Hundred percent. I’m going to hit him. I’m going to pound him.”
Said Whyte: “You guys know what I bring and that I can fight, and I can box, and I can hit. You guys know my power. So I don’t have to sit here and scream about what I’m going to do. There will be blood on Saturday night.”