Oleksandr Usyk vs Derek Chisora - fight date announced

Matchroom have officially announced a date for Usyk's second outing in the heavyweight division

Matchroom's Eddie Hearn has announced a date for the much anticipated heavyweight clash between Oleksandr Usyk and Derek Chisora.

The fight will take place behind closed doors on 31 October with a venue yet to be announced.

First set for May but cancelled for obvious reasons, there was a worry of late that Usyk vs Chisora might not get over the line. While it was clear that both Men wanted the fight, financial issues resulting from the ban on audiences have meant that promoters are struggling to get contracts signed.

Eddie Hearn said: "We had hoped we would get people in a venue October 31st. I haven't given that up yet, but it will happen with or without people there."

On the fight itself, Hearn said: "We'll see how he [Usyk] likes it. Listen, as a cruiserweight, one of the best of all time. Can he cut the mustard. . .in the heavyweight division. Is he tough enough? Is he robust enough to handle the firepower? Maybe. But if he's not, he'll find out all about it on October 31st."

"It's the perfect fight all round. You know, for Oleksandr Usyk you get to find out if he is really. . .a top 5 heavyweight in the world, if he's gonna be the real deal in this division."

"And for Del Boy, you say mate go and spin the division on its head, become the mandatory challenger yourself and go and unearth a monster payday for the world heavyweight title. He will put absolutely every drop he has into this fight."

The event will be Usyk's second outing at heavyweight since moving up from the cruiserweight division where he dominated, becoming undisputed champion and winning the World Boxing Super Series Muhammad Ali Trophy.

It will be more than a year out of the ring for Usyk, who last fought in October 2019 when he stopped Chazz Witherspoon in the 7th round.

Usyk is the mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua's WBO heavyweight title, and should he come through Chisora, he is expected to push for that title shot, potentially hampering any potential plans for an undisputed unification clash between AJ and WBC champion, Tyson Fury.

Chisora too had his most recent outing back in October, knocking out the heavyhanded David Price in the 4th round.

Since being KO'd by Dillian Whyte in 2018, Chisora has looked on good form. He and his team are confident that they can spring a massive upset against Usyk, believing that as the natural heavyweight he can get the upper hand.

Chisora's Manager David Haye said: "what Usyk doesn't understand is that the heavyweight division is different to every other division in boxing. It's about size, it's about weight, and one shot. . .it takes to turn the tide."

It has been an entertaining build-up so far, with a bit of this...

And some of this...

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