Chisora fight no longer for title
DERECK CHISORA was fined £25,000 and given a two-year suspended ban yesterday, as the boxing authorities stopped short of pulling his grudge fight with Dillian Whyte off Anthony Joshua’s undercard in Manchester tomorrow. But Whyte’s heavyweight title is no longer on the line as the British Boxing Board of Control tried to repair the sport’s damaged image after Chisora hurled a table at the champion during Wednesday’s press conference. The fracas at the Eddie Hearn promotion demanded strong action, but there is a whiff of compromise in the verdict, although Chisora must also pay £5,000 costs. Sky’s pay-per-view card would certainly have suffered without Chisora v Whyte, given that Joshua’s opponent, Eric Molina, is little-known and lowly-rated. Hearn, who was at the threehour BBBC hearing, told Sportsmail: ‘It’s okay to hype a fight, but what Chisora did went too far. ‘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. Joshua, the IBF world heavyweight champion, tried to find the positives in Chisora’s wild antics. He said: ‘I can see where people are coming from, but in another way it’s good because it attracts a wider audience. ‘People who might not tune in normally will now be excited to see what happens in the ring. ‘There is no denying a lot of people — here and 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 on 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.’ Joshua’s challenger, Molina, remained aloof from the controversy. The special-needs teacher from Texas said: ‘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 puncher.’
Joshua v Molina will be televised live on Sky Sports Box Office from 5pm tomorrow.