Lennox Lewis, Hatton, Cleverly Discuss Haye vs. Chisora

By Edward Chaykovsky

Some of the biggest names in British Boxing are shocked with last Saturday's brawl between David Haye and Dereck Chisora. The incident took place during the post-fight conference to Chisora's bout with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. The two boxers exchanged words, punches, and their camps were involved in the violence.

Ricky Hatton, Lennox Lewis and Nathan Cleverly gave their opinions on the madness to Daily Mail Online. 

Lennox Lewis: I’m still getting my head around the whole thing. Dereck Chisora showed so much disrespect to the heavyweight championship of the world — the greatest title of all. If Dereck had slapped me like he slapped Vitali then there would not have been a fight. His shot, his chance, would be gone.

Nathan Cleverly: I’m defending my title against Tommy Karpency this weekend and I’m sure you won’t find us  rolling around on the floor. There is an extra responsibility to behave after everything that has happened — to show yourself as a sportsman and a worthy champion. I’m next up and that falls on me.

Ricky Hatton: I’ve had my moments of shame and I didn’t look too clever when I made that throat-cutting gesture before the Floyd Mayweather fight, but this went a bit further than that.

The thing about boxing, and what we all learn from the start, is that you need willpower and control. To be honest, it’s hard to be a boxer at the top level — and David has been a world champion — and not have control. So it was a bit surprising to see them fighting like that.