Chisora and Haye Shamed Themselves, Not Boxing
Feb 21, 2012 • 1:45 AM ET
By Terence Dooley
Dereck Chisora and David Haye have whipped up plenty of media attention courtesy of their impromptu brawl at the press conference, following Chisora’s wide decision defeat to Vitali Klitschko in Munich on Saturday night. Haye reacted with a surprisingly accurate right hand when Chisora approached him to speak about a potential meeting between the two and was then attacked by members of Chisora’s team before swinging a tripod. The night was topped by Chisora’s threat to ‘shoot’ his rival. Unfortunately for them, and for boxing, the eyes of the world have focused on the sport for all the wrong reasons during the past two days, which have been full of blame, counter-blame and plenty of hand wringing, but who sew the seeds for Saturday’s disgraceful scenes?
We have all seen the videos, all read the reports, and there is no hiding place for either of the men at the centre of this storm. The initial questions over what exactly Haye was doing at the presser are irrelevant. The ‘Hayemaker’ attended the fight to do punditry work for BoxNation. Like all accredited media men, Haye’s pass allowed him access to the post-fight conference, but he abused this privilege when he hijacked the whole event by heckling Vitali, who was engaged in a discussion with Bernd Boente, trainer to the Klitschkos, about their next move.
The idea that Haye’s previous with both Klitschkos and Chisora should have somehow been used as an excuse to ban him from the room has no validity. Haye is an adult, and it is reasonable to expect adults to carry themselves in a mature manner whenever they are out in public so you cannot heap blame on whoever decides who does and does not attend a presser. The blame lies with Haye himself.
Chisora, though, should have acted responsibly himself when Haye was shouting the odds from the back of the room. It is clear from the footage that the former WBA titlist was agitated, Dereck’s own fight week antics, the slap to Vitali’s face and the face full of water he spat at Wlad, had been roundly documented and no doubt were at the forefront of David’s mind when Chisora decided to cross the room to approach Haye.
Chisora, however, had just been through a grueling twelve round fight. It is highly unlikely that he wanted to start a ruckus and his demeanor when ambling towards Haye suggests he wanted to engage in a bit of the face-to-face shouting that now passes for matchmaking in the heavyweight division. Still, it was a daft thing to do.
Ultimately, though, Haye’s decision to throw a right hand at Chisora when Dereck appeared to tickle his chin was disgraceful even if he did feel threatened, especially when you consider that he had a bottle in his hand. It was an act of pure stupidity, Haye’s subsequent attempt to dress it up as self-defence does not do him any favours.
Indeed, Haye’s statement is made all the remarkable due to the video footage of the incident, members of Chisora’s team, most notably his trainer Don Charles, approached Haye also, but Haye’s decision to wield a tripod was a crazy move. This cranked things up to 11 out of 10 and appeared to be the cause of a head injury to Adam Booth, Haye’s manager, which further fueled the situation.
Chisora’s threat to ‘Shoot’ Haye and ‘Burn’ the former champion, when confronted by a clearly dazed Booth made things worse. They were crazy statements from a guy who has specialized in mad acts during his short career – he has bitten and kissed opponents in the past – and ‘Del Boy’ sounded like an irresponsible thug. They were crass comments given that both men hail from London, home of too many shootings in recent times.
Chisora’s threats, Haye’s assaults, and the subsequent police inquiry plus David’s decision to leave Germany immediately to put distance between himself and Team Chisora without speaking to the police first have all been piled on boxing’s toes. The creaking sport is now struggling to cope with the pressure of suddenly going from the final paragraphs of the back pages of the national press to the front page.
There have been ‘Boxing’s biggest scandals’ articles, claims that apologists with a vested interest have somehow tried to play down the incident and the bi-annual appearance of the ‘Boxing should be banned’ argument and the people who profess it, who have probably been too busy trying to ban marshmallow dildos in recent times – they pose a ‘clear stab risk’ – to bother with the sport.
Let’s clear up the ‘Boxing’s night of shame’ angle first, as characterized by lists of fracas stretching back to the brawl between Mark Kaylor and Errol Christe at the press conference announcing their November 1985 meeting. If the same publications produced a ‘Football’s shame’ countdown the clock would be measured in hours, days and months, not years.
The beloved ‘national game’ is full of scandal and is currently suffering a season of simmering race rows, one of them, John Terry’s alleged abuse of Anton Ferdinand, is heading to court, poor on-field behavior, a lack of respect for the ‘respect’ campaign that has seen pre-match handshakes ditched or snubbed, and this all takes place against a backdrop of moral and financial bankruptcy. Not to mention a high profile court case involving tax evasion charges leveled at Harry Redknapp, who was found not guilty, and a number of personal scandals involving top players.
So you have a sport that has had assaults, I forget to mention Joey Barton stubbing out a cigar on a Manchester City FC youth player in 2004, minor gun play, Ashley Cole firing an air rifle at Chelsea’s training ground, fraud, massive unpaid tax bills and a lack of sportsmanship yet where are the calls to ban football. There aren’t any. Why is boxing an exception? The act itself is not to everyone’s taste, but then neither is ruby, an equally robust, physical sport.
Why single out boxing? Sure, it was a high profile incident and questions must be asked, but why go straight for boxing’s jugular in the process? It is partly down to the pragmatics of the press. This story is salacious, contains violence and dragged on due to Haye’s decision to leave Germany – prompting further rumours that his film career will begin with remakes of The Fugitive and The Man Who Wasn’t There – and it should be reported, but why call the entire game into question?
The problem with the national coverage of boxing is that it is usually non-existent, there are some journalists who clearly love and fight for the sport, and they know who they are, and others who only attend a handful of big shows per year. Ask any boxing PR man if accreditation requests spike when there is a world title fight on the horizon and the answer will be a resounding “Yes”. The guys who are not boxing men, who primarily cover other sports, can easily absorb Saturday’s events into a ‘shameful sport’ angle. It also pays for them to prolong boxing’s agony as it whets the public’s appetite and shifts papers, no easy thing in the digital age.
This one chaotic presser and show has been plucked out of the chorus line because many of those in attendance attend as many post-fight pressers as they do shows, again, not a huge amount, and the impact is increased because of this. Again, those in the national press who are quick to judge this sport should look to football in the UK, the NBA and the NFL in the US, and ask if boxing should really be the target.
They may also want to look to their own medium. Since the recent phone hacking scandal broke here in the UK our national press has been dragged through the gutter. Moral grandstanding of the kind we have seen in recent days is somewhat undermined when the publications pontificating about the sport have little or no moral worth.
Furthermore, when asking who made this possible, we should all take a look in the mirror and say, ‘We did, every writer who jotted down all of Haye’s past outbursts, who loved the Klitschko decapitation t-shirt, who hyped Haye all the way to a showdown you could argue he did not merit due to a need to shift papers, PPVs or tickets,’ – if the cap fits.
There is an interesting synergy when looking at Haye. How did the accomplished cruiserweight who was once a breath of fresh air on the domestic scene, due to his snappy sound bites, big smile and undoubted talent, become a bloated, monstrous ego reduced to shouting the odds from the back of someone else’s press conference? You could say that dealing with the Klitschkos, who have a reputation to be a nightmare to negotiate with, tipped him over the edge.
It is far more likely that his attitude and public persona developed, or rather regressed, in direct relation to the amount of column inches and TV slots he received. Somewhere along the line the loquacious Londoner turned many fans off, this writer included, and achieved the unthinkable: he made the Klitschkos an easy sell to the British public.
You can easily paint Haye and Chisora as hotheads blown up on their own self-importance, but who are the people who blow them up? The same people who are now using their behaviour to score a few lazy points by belittling boxing.
Do not worry, boxing fans, as a celebrity will do something wild in the next few days and the maelstrom will move on, leaving the BBBoC with the task of dealing with Chisora, who deserves a six or eight-month ban for his conduct over the past week and will have to explain his actions on 14 March. Haye is no longer an active fighter and does not hold a license in the UK so will not have to answer to the board.
The rest of us will just carry on trying to do our best by a sport that has some almighty highs and which has survived over a century of assassination attempts by the very people who profess to love it.
As for the final blame for the events themselves, there is no doubt that both men shamed themselves, little doubt that both are equably culpable in many ways and absolutely no question that the ensuing torrent of coverage says more about the British public and press than it does about boxing. For all the talk of the two men in question, the subsequent witch hunt against ‘The Sweet Science’, and the art of boxing itself will always be sweet, has no moral validity, and it will no doubt blow over in a day or two.
Full video of the press conference: http://www.britishboxers.co.uk/2012/02/haye-vs-chisora-fight-video-from-munich.html
Statements from Chisora and Haye:
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