David Haye and Dereck Chisora's trainer Don Charles
British Boxing Board of Control General Secretary Robert Smith has not ruled out the possibility of life bans for shamed boxers David Haye and Dereck Chisora following their brawl in Munich.The boxers clashed in the press conference following Chisora’s defeat at the hands of WBC champion Vitali Klitschko.
Chisora mocked Haye, who was covering the fight for television, for his poor performance in losing to Vitali’s brother Wladimir last year and tried to talk him into an all-British fight after the Klitschkos’ manager said the brothers were finished with British fighters after protestations from Haye at the back of the room.
The pair then met at the back of the room, where punches were thrown and a mass brawl broke out.
The sport has been quick to condemn the incident, and Smith says the punishment for the duo could be severe.
“It’s a possibility,” Smith told BBC Radio 5 live. “They could fine, they could suspend, they could withdraw a licence, they have many powers.”
Smith also signed his name to a statement from the body to say it was investigating Chisora’s behaviour.
“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, 18th February 2012 in Munich,” it read.
The stewards will be considering Mr. 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 Mr. David Haye, Mr. 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.”
Meanwhile the duo are the subject of a police investigation, with Haye still sought for questioning by German police.
Chisora was detained by police at Munich airport as he prepared to board his flight back to the UK following the bout, but was released without charge and returned to Heathrow last night.
The BBC reported that police had gone to Haye’s hotel in the early hours of Sunday morning to question him about the incident, but could not track the former world heavyweight champion down.
“David Haye is not in his hotel, he is not at the airport. We don’t know where he is,” police spokesman Gottfried Schlicht told Sky Sports News on Sunday.
“We want to speak to him about what happened on Saturday night. We have to hear both sides of the story.
“It’s not a charge against David Haye. We have to report everything that happened between Chisora and Haye. Maybe Haye has gone home, then we would talk to our colleagues in Great Britain.”
Haye’s trainer Booth, who suffered a cut over his eye in the melee, was quoted in the Daily Telegraph saying that the boxer had checked out of the hotel, where Chisora was also staying, shortly after the press conference, and returned to the UK on an early flight.
“We left the press conference, and it would have been stupid to go back to the same hotel as Chisora and his mob,” Booth said. “He had said he was going to assault David, and then screamed he was going to shoot him and burn him. We decided to go to the airport and get an early flight home.”
Booth added Haye had nothing to hide from police.
“We have not been contacted or called by the German police,” said Booth. “Of course we would answer any questions, and would go to Germany to be interviewed. We have nothing to run away from.
“What David did was a defensive reflex. The man said he was going to slap him, walked 20 yards towards him, took his jacket off, went straight into a headbutt and shoved his fist into David’s chin. Everything was a defensive reflex from?
