Chisora vs Whyte to go ahead, but not for title

Dereck Chisora hurles a table at Dillian Whyte during a press conference on Wednesday.

Dereck Chisora hurles a table at Dillian Whyte during a press conference on Wednesday.

Published Dec 9, 2016

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Dereck Chisora has been fined £25,000 and given a two-year suspended ban but the boxing authorities stopped short of pulling his grudge fight with Dillian Whyte off Anthony Joshua’s undercard in Manchester on Saturday.

However, the British Boxing Board of Control ruled that Whyte’s WBC International heavyweight title will no longer be on the line as they tried to repair the sport’s damaged image after the pair nearly came to blows at Wednesday's press conference.

The fracas started when Chisora stood up from his position behind the mic and hurdled a table at his opponent. Whyte responded by charging at Chisora and the pair had to be seperated by security.

Promoter Eddie Hearn demanded strong action in the immediate aftermath of the incident but there is a whiff of compromise in the verdict, though Chisora must also pay £5,000 costs.

Sky’s pay-per-view card would certainly have suffered without Chisora vs White given that Joshua’s opponent, Eric Molina, is little-known and lowly rated.

"It’s OK to hype a fight but what Chisora did went too far," Hearn said after attending the three-hour long BBBC hearing

"The board have taken swift and firm action. Now we move on and look forward to the fight."

Hearn also conceded that it made sense to have separate weigh-ins for Whyte and Chisora in their hotel rooms.

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Joshua, the IBF world heavyweight champion, tried to find the positives.

"I can see where people are coming from but in another way it’s good because it attracts a wider audience," he said.

"People who might not tune in normally will be excited to see what happens in the ring.

"There is no denying a lot of people - here as in America - like the grudge and the rivalry. It excites them.

"I’d be more upset if there were only 3,000 in the crowd Saturday night instead of 20,000. This isn’t golf. This isn’t tennis. It’s gladiators."

Joshua is unperturbed that boxing’s image may have prevented him making the long list for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

"I don’t care," he said. "Bit early for me, even though I won the world title this year. Though I thought (WBA featherweight champion) Carl Frampton should be on there."

Molina, a special-needs teacher from Texas, remained aloof from the controversy.

"That fuss has nothing to do with me. My focus is on knocking out Joshua. It’s my only chance of winning. I’m not going to outbox him, so l can’t win on points, but I am a dangerously big puncherm," he said

Daily Mail

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