Haye and Chisora break silence on brawl

Mon, 20 Feb 16:50:00 2012

David Haye and Dereck Chisora have broken their silence over their brawl at the ill-fated Dereck Chisora-Vitali Klitschko press conference.

David Haye Great Britain - 0

In his official statement, former world heavyweight champion Haye called the incident "unfortunate", saying he regretted the incident and was "bitterly disappointed" at his involvement, but stopped short of apologising and said he hoped Chisora would "learn from his mistakes" and fulfil his potential as a boxer.

Haye added that he would "happily assist the boxing authorities with any investigation they wish to launch".

Chisora, meanwhile, apologised for the incident saying he had let down his "family, team and most importantly the sport of boxing", also adding that he would assist the boxing authorities with any investigations.

David Haye's full statement:

It is with regret that I feel I have to issue this statement to clarify certain matters, following an unfortunate incident that occurred on Saturday night (February 18) in Munich, Germany at the Vitali Klitschko vs. Dereck Chisora post-fight press conference.

I was in Munich to watch the WBC world heavyweight title bout between Klitschko and Chisora and provide punditry for BoxNation, and accredited as such.

During the post-fight press conference, I was stood at the back of the room. It wasn't until Bernd Bonte said my name and involved me in the press conference that I commented. I was then happy to banter back and forth with Bonte and Klitschko, keen to ascertain whether he (Vitali) would stay true to his word and reiterate his desire to do what his younger brother couldn't do – knock me out.

I felt as though the public would want to hear more information about this potential bout and that we could both start beating the drum ahead of a showdown later this year.

However, at this point Chisora began firing insults at me from his position on the top table. In fact, he has recently made a habit of saying derogatory things about me in the press.

Moments before declaring he wanted to go face-to-face with me, Chisora assured the gathered media that he would give me 'two slaps'. Chisora had, of course, already been shrouded in controversy that weekend.

Despite this, Chisora climbed down from the top table, removed his robe and then walked towards me, entourage in tow, in an aggressive manner. I held my ground, but, unfortunately, he caused a serious disturbance to occur, something which threatened to damage the reputation of the sport we both love.

Regrettably, some members of his entourage also encouraged the chaos.

Nevertheless, Chisora and I soon separated, brushed ourselves down and moved in opposite directions. The confrontation then reignited, however, and both Don Charles and Adam Booth became involved in the mess. Adam suffered a cut to the head.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the ruckus to again settle down. It was then that I heard Chisora say he planned to 'shoot me dead'.

I decided to leave the venue and return to my hotel, a move which I hoped would diffuse [sic] the situation. However, Chisora's team were staying at the same hotel as me and, in light of the threats Chisora had made in front of the world's media, it seemed far more appropriate for me and Adam to leave the hotel as quickly as possible.

Consequently, I left Munich on an earlier flight on Sunday morning and have been thinking about what happened ever since, as well as replaying the incident many times via YouTube. It goes without saying, I am bitterly disappointed to have been a part of what transpired on Saturday evening.

I realise I am no angel – and don't mind a bit of professional trash-talk to help raise boxing's profile – but, during my 21 years in the sport, I have never been involved in, or even witnessed, such a serious fracas.

If requested, I shall happily assist the boxing authorities with any investigation they wish to launch and, ultimately, hope that all lessons learned from this incident will be implemented.

I also hope Dereck Chisora is able to learn from his mistakes this past weekend, right the wrongs and then go on to fulfil his potential in the boxing ring.

Chisora's full statement:

Following the extensive media coverage that my WBC World Heavyweight title challenge against Vitali Klitschko in Munich at the weekend has attracted, I feel I must wholeheartedly apologise for my part in the regrettable scenes both before and after what was to be the biggest night of my career.

Whilst my behaviour was inexcusable, there were many things that went on behind the scenes that ultimately caused my frustrations to boil over, however this is of course no excuse. 

I cannot go into the specific details at the moment as quite rightly the British Boxing Board of Control will be investigating this matter and also the altercation that took place between David Haye and myself where I was struck by a bottle.

Despite all of this, the bottom line is, I have let my family, my team and worst of all the sport I love down. I acknowledge that my actions were totally unprofessional, with or without provocation.

Now, with a cool head and the benefit of hindsight, my actions at the weekend were regrettable to say the least and I am deeply embarrassed at the scenes reported in the media.

I acknowledge that I have a duty as a professional boxer to conduct myself properly at all times, especially with boxing being a sport of controlled aggression. I have let lots of people down on Saturday night, including myself, and for that I am truly sorry.

In Munich I fully cooperated with the German authorities and as a result I was released without charge.

I will be making no further comment at this stage and will wait for any formal hearing to take place

David Haye and Dereck Chisora have broken their silence over their brawl at the ill-fated Dereck Chisora-Vitali Klitschko press conference. - 2

Eurosport

Comment 32 - 51 of 51

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  1. alot of people fail to remember the antics of mike­ tyson.how many brawls did he have outside the ring?
    he­ broke his hand on mitch "blood" greens­ face.
    then he goes and bites holyfields ear­ off.
    didn't see evrybody screaming for him to be­ banned for life.
    larry holmes has done it,aswell as­ many others.
    even herbie hide had his go aswell.
    part­ and parcel of the bad boy image of the sport.
    no real­ damage done.you'll see those two in the ring­ together in the near future i bet.

    From Andy, on Wed 29 Feb 9:17

  2. enoch powell

    From Tony Tvrlittlelegs, on Sat 25 Feb 21:21

  3. @50 - Reading your post I fail to see if you have any­ talent at all. It appears to me that the only talent­ you and others have is for your colourful language. ­ Can't you see what kind of impression you and­ others are creating about white people to the rest of­ the world and to the people in this country with the­ kind of language you write? Unfortunately, you are­ not alone. There are many sad and disgusting people­ like you. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING superior­ about people like you. You simply cannot call­ yourself 'whiter than white' when the inside of­ you is darker than 'black'!! Unfortunately­ for you, I can't say, may 'god' help you­ when I don't believe that there is one except on­ the Christmas day!!

    People, why don't you all­ focus on the bad incident, but NOT the colour. If you­ think spouting racist biggotry comments makes you look­ and feel good or superior you are no better than the­ two boxers who behaved like idiots last Saturday!

    From P, on Thu 23 Feb 19:37

  4. they are both scumbag arsholes with no talent between­ them. they shoulfd be banned from not just boxing but­ every boxing event in the future'

    From thomas, on Thu 23 Feb 17:51

  5. I think Haye missed a little bit out of his statement,­ It might not be that important but he forgot to mention­ that he smashed a bottle in fatties face.

    From ELFIS, on Wed 22 Feb 23:14

  6. And Haye decides to sod of to L.A before answering to­ the German authorities.

    'ITS PARTY­ TIME!!'
    '
    I gotta give it to Haye, thats a­ great line at this stage of the game.

    lol

    From russ, on Wed 22 Feb 22:14
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    At least Chisora is a real heavyweight (109kg and not­ only fat)and was a real threat to Klitschko, whereas­ Haye (95kg)still looks more like a cruiserweight and­ too small for either brother. However, I am convinced­ that after the infamous brawl there is a general­ interest to oppose the 2 British fighters before giving­ any of them a rematch with the K brothers. To ban­ either of them would not in anyone's interest­ either, provided Chisora stops spitting and slapping­ faces and Haye cutting off opponents heads for bloody­ T-shirts. Friedrich Welke, Brazil.

    From Friedrich, on Wed 22 Feb 18:36

  8. When our so called 'Honourable' MP's from­ House of Greed creamed the tax payer at will for years­ and years, did any one from this forum said our greedy­ MP's should receive a 'life ban' from the­ House of Greed? Our MP's fiddled the British tax­ payer year after year until they got caught. Once got­ caught they denied any wrong doing for months until­ they had no where to hide or no where run. When­ they had no where to hide, then only our so called­ 'Honourable' MP's decided to come clean and­ apologies, including our Saint PM Cameron. Did we­ hear anyone say, they should resign, kick them out of­ the country or ban them from House of Greed? NO. ­ So, why now? Simple. Its because the two involved­ are black. For the illogical racist bigots the­ opportunity to slag anyone is irresistable like honey­ to the bees!! What these two boxers did was­ shameful, but I see no reason to bring the colour into­ this. Is anyone suggesting that no white­ boxer/sportsman has acted in a foolish way? I can­ mention a lot, but it serves no purpose. Yes, the­ two boxer done something wrong and brought shame to the­ sport that most genuine boxing fans love, but it­ wasn't the crime of the century. Yes, they­ should be punished, heavily fined and impose conditions­ on their license, but they do not deserve a life ban­ simply because the racist few say so! I would be­ most surprised if the BBBC have the courage to take a­ decision to ban either Chisora or David Haye, other­ than imposing hefty financial penalties on both.

    From P, on Tue 21 Feb 22:12

  9. Kick them both out of the sport forever, including­ commentary and promotions - at least that way­ there'll never be a repeat.

    From Rory, on Tue 21 Feb 21:44

  10. go shame

    From prince mhango, on Tue 21 Feb 17:49

  11. both should be kicked out of boxing cant fight anyway.

    From suzannezarelli, on Tue 21 Feb 10:33

  12. While it's totally believable that Haye wrote his­ own statement, if you've listened to Chisora­ talking you know he definitely hasn't written his,­ it's way to eloquent lol. He would probably not­ understand half of it!

    From YiannisP, on Tue 21 Feb 9:01

  13. When Wayne 'did' one man's nuts in a World­ cup football match, we chose to look and talk about the­ in-famous wink. Two men of colour grappled at a boxing­ event, people want their licences torn with some­ suggestion jail terms. Both men said they are sorry­ about the incident. Let them get on with their lives­ of fighting. Wayne did in football. What's so­ special about the sport that they can't vent­ their anger on each-other. Who lost anything of his­ because of that fight. Haye waited for the fight. He­ wasn't hit from the back. I would love to see a­ clearer clip of that fight. They must do it again in­ the ring this time. Can't wait to pay-per-view.

    From babydee, on Tue 21 Feb 8:27

  14. H W, can you shut your pipe please? why ban someone for­ life because of a scuffle? its not like they used­ performance enhancing drug or something, they argued #,­ they exchange some blow, that is the nature of their­ business and more importantly its human nature that­ when provoke to wanted to strike back! its call flight­ or fright in biology. Prison term 1 year suspended and­ some 2000 hours community services yes, I voted for­ that! but banning them for life? not even if they were­ convicted for rape! its not worth a life ban.

    From super_slo_mo, on Tue 21 Feb 6:32

  15. haye was approached by chisora and his entire­ entourage. Haye was alone (adam booth barely counts, as­ he is dwarfed by all in chisora's camp). Chisora­ had shown that very weekend he was more than prepared­ to strike first (slap on vitali, and then spit on­ wladimir) so Haye striking first is not the instigating­ move. It is pre-emtive, yes, but not instigatory. Haye­ is immature and brash, but chisora is a thug. Haye has­ promoted fights callously and sometimes reprehensibly,­ but has never resorted to violence to promote a fight,­ or intimidate others. Chisora has a history of­ hooligan-like behaviour, and the powers that be should­ have revoked his license once he was convicted of­ assaulting his girlfriend in 2009. He is a coward, and­ a thug.

    From Jibrael, on Tue 21 Feb 6:12

  16. they should both be banned for life, we do not need­ this low life behaviour.

    From H W, on Tue 21 Feb 6:01

  17. I say PARDON both of them, let them fight, fight,­ fight, fight!!!!!!
    On the ring this time, lol!

    From Heavy, on Tue 21 Feb 5:54

  18. How David Haye has the nerve to blame it all on the­ other guy I don't know he threw the first punch, he­ had a bottle in his hand,he hit his own trainer and why­ does someone who has retired need a trainer anyway the­ pair of them are a disgrace to boxing.

    From Grumpy Old Man, on Tue 21 Feb 5:29

  19. Let them fight. My moneys on Haye.

    From Chris, on Tue 21 Feb 5:11

  20. These things have always happened in boxing. It's­ just britain has become abit of a cry baby nation­ nowdays.
    Thank @#$% Hitler's time came in the­ 1930's. If he was to emerge in this day and age.­ We'd be @#$%.

    PC gone mad was two years ago.­ It's "PC's taken over completely."­ now.

    From Chris, on Tue 21 Feb 5:10
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