Posts Tagged ‘Dereck Chisora’

Klitschko unanimously beats Chisora, but post-fight brawl steals the show

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Dereck Chisora lost to Vitali Klitschko before taking on fellow boxer David Haye in a post-fight press conference. (AP)

MUNICH — Three thoughts from Vitali Klitschko’s unanimous decision win over Dereck Chisora:

Let’s start with the brawl. Because this will be all over YouTube, you know, now. During the post-fight press conference David Haye, who was attending the fight as a commentator for a British outlet, started barking at Klitschko. He demanded a fight. Klitschko’s manager, Bernd Boente, told Haye unequivocally, “You’re out. You can’t talk your way into this fight.” After a few minutes, Chisora — who Haye has openly criticized — got involved. Chisora made fun of Haye’s toe. Haye made fun of Chisora’s record. Chisora challenged Haye to fight him. Haye said he would knock him out. Chisora left the dais and told Haye to say it to his face. Haye drilled him with an elbow to the chops.

From there, it was bedlam. Haye hit Chisora. Chisora hit Haye. Haye hit Chisora’s trainer, Don Charles. Someone hit Haye’s trainer, Adam Booth, who was cut at the top of his forehead. Haye swung a tripod at one of Chisora’s friends. After a few minutes of brawling, Haye left, and Chisora told Booth, “David is going to fight me or I’m going to shoot him. I’m going to shoot him in the street. I’ll burn him.”


All this amused the Klitschko’s, who stayed out of the fray. Wladimir stood on a chair, laughing. Vitali shook his head and left the room. Boente suggested that Haye and Chisora fight, with the winner earning a shot at Vitali’s WBC heavyweight title belt. Later, a handful of police cars were spotted outside the building, waiting, I was told, for Chisora. All in all, a wild ending to the night.

Chisora sure makes things interesting. One day after slapping Klitschko at the weigh-in — a shot Chisora says he threw because he promised his mother that when he was face-to-face with a Klitschko he would slap one — Chisora nearly came to blows with Wladimir Klitschko in his dressing room. Sources say Wladimir, who was in the room inspecting Chisora’s hand wraps, as he often does in Vitali’s fights, took issue with the way Chisora was wrapping his hands, prompting Chisora to rip his wraps off and threaten not to fight. When he finally did get in the ring, Chisora spit water in Wladimir’s face during introductions. “The hardest thing I have ever done,” Wladimir told me later, “was not break his face.”

The Klitschko’s have dealt with trash talkers before, but Chisora’s behavior clearly struck a nerve. “I have big respect for him as a fighter,” Vitali said, “but no respect for him as a human.”


Oh yeah, there was a fight.
Chisora talked tough but like most of Vitali’s opponents — Klitschko is now 9-0 since coming out of retirement in 2008 — he didn’t measure up. Chisora was aggressive early, taking the fight to Vitali, who struggled throwing his jab due to an arm/hand injury he suffered in the fourth round. Still, Vitali was never in trouble, popping right hands off Chisora’s head and peppering him with combinations. It wasn’t an A+ performance but even Chisora admitted after the fight Vitali had gotten the job done.

– Chris Mannix


  • Published On Feb 18, 2012
  • Dereck Chisora slaps Vitali Klitschko at weigh-in for title fight

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    Dereck Chisora (right) caused a stir when he slapped Vitali Klitschko at the weigh-in for Saturday's heavyweight title fight in Munich. (Youtube.com)

    MUNICH — At the weigh-in for his fight against Robert Helenius in December, Dereck Chisora nearly sparked a riot when he got into a shoving match with Helenius on the dais. On Friday, Chisora did it again: after weighing in for his WBC heavyweight title fight against Vitali Klitschko, Chisora slapped Klitschko with a hard right hand.

    Klitschko appeared angry, but stayed composed. He took a step back and stared at Chisora, pointing a long arm at the Briton, who promptly fled the stage. Members of Klitschko’s team, however, started barking at Chisora, screaming “You f—ed up now, you really f—ed up” in his general direction. They also got in the face of Chisora’s trainer, Don Charles, who remained on the stage to test out the gloves being used in the fight.


    Klitschko-Chisora will air in the U.S. on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on Epix and EpixHD.com.

    – Chris Mannix


  • Published On Feb 17, 2012
  • Thoughts on Helenius, Povetkin’s wins

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    Robert Helenius

    Robert Helenius, but needs to improve if he wants to be a heavyweight title contender. (Reuters)

    HELSINKI — Three quick thoughts on Robert Helenius’ controversial decision over Dereck Chisora and Alexander Povetkin’s knockout win over Cedric Boswell.

    Chisora got robbed. There is no other way to say it, really. Chisora put on a clinic on Saturday, pressuring the bigger Helenius from the opening bell and landing bomb — and I mean bomb– after bomb over 12 physical rounds. I had Chisora winning 119-109; two of the judges gave it to Helenius 115-113. I’ve seen a lot of bad decisions over the years but few as unbelievable as this. This was borderline criminal. Chisora stormed out of the ring after the fight, furious, and I don’t blame him. After his career was temporarily derailed following a loss to Tyson Fury last July, this fight was supposed to reposition Chisora as a serious challenger to Wladimir Klitschko. It still might, but at the very least Chisora deserves a rematch (on neutral turf) or a shot at Alexander Povetkin and his alphabet title.

    The shine on Helenius is off. I’ll admit, I got caught up in Helenius fever. But Saturday night’s performance showed Helenius has a long way to go. His jab was weak and he simply allowed the smaller Chisora to walk inside and take the fight to him. When Chisora did give him an opening, Helenius couldn’t pull the trigger on any kind of meaningful combinations.

    Helenius needs to get back in the lab, quickly. His skills are far too rudimentary to compete with any of the top talent in the heavyweight division. Trainer Ulli Wegner has taken him this far but if he cannot turn Helenius into a potent jabber, maybe it’s time to bring someone in (Emanual Steward?) who can.

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  • Published On Dec 04, 2011