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Former heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder (44-4-1, 43 KOs) explained why his fight with WBC, WBA, and IBF titleholder Oleksandr Usyk (24-0, 15 KOs) was canceled.
“About the situation with Usyk: at first, he said he wanted to fight me, then everyone started discussing it, there was a phone call, and we began talking about it. But I don’t think they had a clearly defined date or venue for the fight. Everything was dragging on,” Wilder told Fight Hub TV.
“You know, time was ticking. If you understand boxing, things either move very slowly or very quickly. There’s no middle ground, and you have to be ready all the time. That’s when we agreed to fight Chisora, because we were still negotiating with Derek,” he added.
Usyk had expressed his desire to face 40-year-old Wilder at the end of last year.
On January 31, it was officially announced that Wilder would face British fighter Derek Chisora (36-13, 23 KOs). The fight is scheduled for April 4 at London’s O2 Arena.
Wilder has lost four of his last six fights. His most recent bout was in June, when he defeated Tyrell Gervonta via seventh-round TKO. At the peak of his career, “The Bronze Bomber” successfully defended his WBC world title 10 times and fought Tyson Fury three times—one draw and two losses.
