Haye Defends Chisora, Rejects Claims He Ran From Fury

By Edward Chaykovsky

David Haye has come out in defense of his ex-rival, Dereck Chisora. Haye was last seen in the ring scoring a fifth round TKO over Chisora in 2012. Chisora was scheduled to face Tyson Fury in a highly anticipated rematch on Saturday night in Manchester, but on Monday morning he withdrew with a fractured hand. Haye himself withdrew, twice, from scheduled fights with Fury.

Both Fury and many of the boxing fans have attacked Chisora for his late withdrawal. Ironically, Fury was set to face late-replacement Alexander Ustinov and then withdrew from that bout on Saturday morning due to a family emergency.

Haye told Sportsmail: "Chisora could have got run over by a car, there could be video footage of him getting run over by a car, and there would be people out there, on these boxing forums, these alleged “boxing enthusiasts”, who’d say “He ran out in front of that car, on purpose, knowing he’d be injured, knowing he’d get out of that fight. He took the easy route out by jumping in front of that bus”.

"I genuinely do feel for Chisora. I’ve been there in the last couple of years so I know exactly how he feels. I saw him not long ago, he was training hard. He was up for it, he believed this was his chance to get a crack at Wladimir Klitschko. He wouldn’t have had the fight for a couple of years, but he’d still have been mandatory for the WBO title. All he’d have had to do is keep having easy fights, and sooner or later he’d have had a shot at the main man. But now he may never get the chance."