By: Sean Crose
“Let’s all be honest,” heavyweight contender Derek Chisora said to the media in the final press conference before his Saturday fight with fellow heavy Kubrat Pulev.”I don’t know how many press conferences I’ve done in the past. It’s all the same talk to be honest with you. ‘Yes I have trained hard, I’ve hit the bag harder, I’ve sparred harder and I’ve done everything harder’. How many fights have I had? 45 fights. It’s the same chat. I just want to fight. We can all sit here and say, ‘I’ve trained hard and I’ve done this and done that’, it doesn’t really matter for me. All I want to do is just put my gumshield on, put my gloves on, walk out to the ring and fight. That’s all I want to do. I’m just excited for Saturday.”
This will mark the second time Chisora and Pulev will have met in the ring. The first time was back in 2016, when Pulev walked away with a split decision victory. Chisora clearly intends for things to end differently the second time around. Pulev, however, didn’t appear top be letting the pressure get to him heading into the scheduled 12 rounder.
“I’m sure in myself,” he said. “I believe in myself. I don’t talk so much. I talk real and I’m honest. I just talk the truth. My team and I have had amazing preparation for this fight. We had very hard training in Bulgaria. We are ready for the rematch with Derek Chisora. I took this rematch because everybody needs a second chance. That’s why man to man I’ve given him a second chance. For the people it’s going to be a really interesting fight because there’s a lot of history behind this fight. We have old history and now we will see who is better than before. It’s very interesting. He has his style; my style is a little bit different. We’re going to see on Saturday who has changed. This is very important. “
Chisora-Pulev 2 is set to go down Saturday at London’s O2 arena, which means Londoner Chisora will have home court advantage, at the very least. The fight card will be aired live on DAZN in the United States beginning at 2 PM eastern time.
“It’s going to be a great fight,” Pulev said. “One of us must win. I hope the judges and the referee are honest.”