It took a jovial debate about African animals to finally crack Oleksandr Usyk.
The Ukrainian is normally unflappable maverick, but now showed interesting signs of annoyance that his size was being constantly questioned by Derek Chisora.
Former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk had uttered the same quip about stepping into a bigger division and was preparing again to say:
“If the king of animals would be considered according to the size, then it would be elephant, not the lion.”
Chisora cut him off: “An elephant is the king of the jungle for this reason: a lion is only brave when there is loads of them.”
'Do you believe that you can stop @DerekWarChisora?'
'Ask @TonyBellew.'
That's 🥶🥶🥶 @Usykaa pic.twitter.com/ydNKsTSgCm
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) October 29, 2020
“An elephant on his own can attack a herd of lions and get away with it!”
Usyk listened to the translation, thought for a split-second, and fired back: “An elephant is a friend of the mouse!”
The implication from Usyk is that he is the heavyweight division’s lion – far from the largest or most powerful, but the most vicious with the sharpest teeth.
“I can’t let a European tell me about the animals we look after in Africa,” said Zimbabwe-born Chisora.
“He doesn’t know. Wolves or bears? But he’s talking about African animals, so I had to correct him. People believe the lion is the king of the jungle but it’s not. Lions are only powerful in a pack. By himself, if he sees a bull elephant? He runs away.”
It is weigh in day at Wembley 🥊
Book #UsykChisora now: https://t.co/GZm34cfdv5
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) October 30, 2020
