Oleksandr Usyk and Dereck Chisora finally met up for their first press conference in London this Friday amid the worsening coronavirus crisis in the UK.
Scheduled for 23 May, promoter Eddie Hearn has been quick to play down the likelihood of the fight being postponed due to the virus and public health reasons.
Chisora made his appearance known by showing up wearing a Union Jack face mask, leading Usyk to take a selfie with him during this press conference.
Straight after the face-off, Usyk was quick to spray the area with what was most likely disinfectant.
Probably the best moment of the event was the selfie, with David Haye’s priceless expression in the background. Aside from the odd moments from the event, the rest of the press conference was full of mutual respect from both fighters.
Chisora started by thanking Usyk for accepting his invitation to the fight, with Usyk going on to fight Joshua later on in the year.
“I’m pumped about it, I just hope I don’t scare him too much to pull out of the fight, he’s got the golden ticket”, Chisora said.
Chisora also has his sights set on a potential fight with Joshua. Given the opportunity to fight Usyk only gives him a clearer path to making this a reality to set up an all British heavyweight bout sooner rather than later.
Chisora will be eager to claim the spot as the number one British boxer as well as heavyweight champion of the world in the process.
So it seems that, regardless of the surrounding fear of the pandemic, these two fighters both with something to prove will need a lot more to discourage them from getting into the ring against each other in a couple of months’ time.