Chisora could get life ban British Boxing Board of Control

| Tuesday February 21, 2012 00:00

The former WBA champion David Haye was still wanted for questioning by German police on Monday following his post-fight press conference brawl with Chisora, who arrived back in England on Sunday after being freed without charge following the unsavoury scenes at the Olympiahalle venue.

A BBBC statement from the general secretary Robert Smith read: “The British Boxing Board of Control are looking at the behaviour of British Boxing Board of Control-licensed Boxer, Dereck Chisora prior, during and after his contest for the World Boxing Council heavyweight championship against Vitali Klitschko on Saturday, February 18, 2012 in Munich.

“The stewards will be considering Chisora under regulation 25 [misconduct] and a further statement will be issued once the stewards have decided on what action will be taken. “With regard to David Haye,  Haye is not a licensed boxer with the British Boxing Board of Control and therefore no longer under the jurisdiction of the British Boxing Board of Control.”

Richard Caborn, the president of the Amateur Boxing Association of England, called on the British Boxing Board of Control to review its rules on how the professional sport conducts itself in the aftermath of Saturday’s brawl. Caborn said the scenes in Munich were “absolutely disgraceful” and threatened “immense damage” to the amateur game, which he said was well run.

Caborn said: “I think the BBBC have got to look at how the sport conducts itself in the future. They ought to remove some of these flashpoints such as weigh-ins and press conferences. “The question needs to be asked as to whether the regulations and the structures are fit for purpose. There has to be far better control of the professional sport. “Boxing has been brought into disrepute and could do immense damage to thousands of young people around the world who love the sport.

“We in the amateur game have to distance ourselves from this - we are flourishing and have 839 clubs and 16,000 members across the country.”

Caborn said the controversy raised a large question mark over whether professional boxers should be allowed to take part in the Olympics - the Amateur International Boxing Association are currently holding a public consultation on the issue. He added that any attempt to now fix up a match between Haye and Chisora would be regarded as “cynical”.Caborn, a former sports minister, said: “There is a big question mark now over whether professional boxing should be allowed into the Olympics.

“The amateur game is well run and has thousands of dedicated volunteers working week-in and week-out and for it to have been brought into disrepute by these people is absolutely disgraceful.

“One thing I can promise is that British boxers will make our nation proud at the London Olympics.”

Asked whether a life ban was a possibility for Chisora, Smith earlier told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Of course it is. The board have many powers - they can fine, they can suspend and they can withdraw a licence.

“There are many powers to them, but let’s just get there first before we speculate what we’re going to do.”

Haye does not have a BBBC licence, having officially retired in October, so the governing body is unlikely to be able to sanction him, but they will continue their investigations into the weekend’s events today.

“That was all taken away by David Haye gatecrashing the press conference, calling out Klitschko and I thought that was disrespectful to Dereck Chisora.”

Chisora’s promoter, Frank Warren has no plans to promote any potential future match-up between Chisora and Haye.“No, I wouldn’t,” he said when asked about the possibility. “I’m sure down the road that will probably happen now, but I don’t feel I could do that.“Any differences they had, that should have happened in the ring rather than instead of the circumstances it did.” (Guardian)