The British Boxing Board of Control are trying to stop the fight - but the heavyweight grudge match between David Haye and Dereck Chisora has sent them a wicked message. The board is determined to come down hard on the show, which has been sanctioned by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation despite neither Haye nor Chisora currently holding licenses to box in Britain.
And their warning, issued on Wednesday, means any license holder - including the promoter, managers, seconds and other fighters on the July 14 bill at Upton Park - will be deemed to have broken the terms of their membership, and instantly stripped.
However, the fight has already sold a staggering 17,000 tickets, according to the The Sun.
Warren told the paper: “A very influential person in the media world called me one day and asked when I was going to stage the fight everyone wanted to see. At the time, I just laughed it off. Then a fortnight or so ago, everything changed so suddenly when Chisora’s appeal to box again was delayed."
“I’ve known Bruce Baker, the Luxembourg boxing federation representative here in England, for years and he didn’t understand why Chisora couldn’t box when he was NOT banned."
"Dereck was stuggling financially. He came to my offices. The only time his eyes would light up was when Haye was mentioned. He kept saying ‘There’s something between us that needs settling’. Let’s make one thing clear — if Dereck had been banned by the British Board, he would not be fighting Haye. Once the idea of fighting Haye was out there, everything seemed to snowball. I even had an offer from Russia to stage the bout there!"
