A strange row has haunted the week building up to Dereck Chisoraโs clash with Dillian Whyte at the O2 on Saturday (December 22).
Chisora has been complaining that Whyte has bewitched him with a curse of some sort, for Dillian itโs all a misunderstanding after saying hello.
โI am sitting there and said something to him and he started shouting in voodoo curses and black magic and stuff like that. I was like, saying the Hail Mary, let the curse go back or whatever. That is a bit weird. Everyone in the studio was looking at each other. He came with black magic talk,โ Chisora said cheerfully. โI am so nervous right now I might have to get the whole congregation out from my church, come and bless the O2 arena.โ
Whyte dismissed the story as something from Chisoraโs imagination. โDereck says dumb stuff. I just spoke to him in his own native tongue and he doesnโt know it because he doesnโt understand where heโs from. He doesnโt know anything, Dereck is a silly guy,โ Whyte said. โI just said hello in his language and he was like โJesus Christโ and crossed himself. He doesnโt understand.
โDereck Chisora is way out there.โ
Whyte is adamant he will be improved from their first encounter in 2016. โIโll be very different, much more controlled and mature. Iโm physically and mentally stronger. David [Haye] says Dereck looks a different person on the scales but David looked great on the scales and look what happened to him. This is boxing, not bodybuilding. If you looked at [Tyson] Fury and [Deontay] Wilder youโd pick Wilder to beat Fury by physique,โ Whyte said. “I thought Wilder got schooled. Heโs another fighter with a protected record, heโs fought nobody and hasnโt followed the right channels. Heโs been avoiding people and picking people and the minute he fights someone who stands in front go him, he couldnโt hit Fury and he was right there.”
Dillian is refusing to dwell on the thought that victory over Chisora will set him up for a shot at old rival Anthony Joshua, now the unified IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion. โIโve been told that for my last two, three fights. But letโs see. As long as Iโm progressing, they canโt avoid me forever. Iโm number one ranked in two governing bodies. After this fight Iโll be going for them so letโs see what happens,โ Whyte said.
โWeโre always strategizing and planning. Iโve got one of the best teams out there. We always come up with things. Itโs crazy. Me and my team speak so much, every day, sometimes 10, 12 calls a day. Theyโre always strategizing, theyโre always on it. So when two doors close, somethingโs going to open up because they plan, they put things in place, theyโre always arranging stuff. Itโs only a matter of time. Weโre like a massive spider spinning our web. Itโs only a matter of time before somebody drops in the middle and pick them off.โ
โI wonโt be having any needle with [Joshua]. I just go and do my job. He can be the bad guy this time,โ he added. โHe should have fought Wilder already, to be honest, he should have. I thought even Tyson Fury. But now all of a sudden he doesnโt want to fight Tyson Fury. But listen, heโs doing his thing, heโs progressed, heโs got [three] world titles, I havenโt got one so I canโt really say much.โ