THE BIG FEAR FOR FIGHT NIGHT
Chisora and Whyte antics could spark ringside violence among rival fans
THE most worrying threat to the boom in British boxing is not the challenger for Anthony Joshua’s IBF world heavyweight title but the prospect of crowd violence in the Manchester Arena.
There is a danger that the rowdier elements among the followers of Dereck Chisora and Dillian Whyte have been inflamed by the furniture-chucking outrage during the build up to this 21,000 sell-out promotion.
That risk will intensify if the last bout before Joshua makes his late-Saturday night ring entrance to face Eric Molina goes to a 12-round decision, which would be likely to anger those on the losing side.
That is the chance taken by the British Boxing Board of Control as they slapped a £30,000 penalty and a two-year suspended ban on Chisora but stopped short of cancelling this festering fight.
The Board further attempted to protect the image of boxing by taking Whyte’s British heavyweight title off the agenda following Chisora’s table-throwing antics at a televised media conference.
Given that he has form, including a ban for brawling with David Haye in Germany, Chisora can consider himself fortunate that only the damage which would have been done to this costly promotion saved him from immediate suspension.
The uproar has overshadowed the more dignified Joshua’s second defence of his IBF world championship but he is too much of an economic realist to fret over that.
Like it or not, such shenanigans grab public attention and Whyte versus Chisora is said to be generating more pay-per-view buys than the main event.
Joshua, whose purse is expected to exceed £4million, says: ‘I would rather have 21,000 fans in the Arena than 3,000.’ Professional fame has not spoiled this 27-yearold with the perfect record of 17 knockouts.
He remains the same genuine person who won Olympic gold at the London Games and he has gone back to his roots by returning to his old Team GB base in Sheffield to rejoin trainer Rob McCracken.
Memories of those Spartan amateur days remain dear to Joshua’s heart and he recalls: ‘I used to share student quarters with Callum Smith and Tom Stalker. At the start I used to look out of the window across the Premier Inn hotel opposite where some of the more established lads were staying and there was a bit of envy. I used to watch them driving off in black estate wagons for an evening in town.
‘I loved being part of the team and now I’m happy being back there among the amateurs. I work with them and try to help them. I don’t want to let them down and that helps keep me grounded.’ He also reminds McCracken’s new group of Olympians of how rewarding all the hard work and privations can be, saying: ‘The best feeling in the world is winning. When that happens all the pain is forgotten.’
BARRING an unforeseen accident, that is a pleasure Joshua should experience tonight. Molina is a 16-1 underdog to pull off the upset which would realise his ambition of becoming the first Mexican-American to win a world heavyweight title. Yesterday Molina weighed in almost a stone lighter than Joshua — 16st 13lb compared to the Brit’s 17st 12lb.
Molina sees his long-term life’s work in his day job as a teacher of special needs teenagers, saying: ‘It’s running before school in the morning, training at night and sparring at weekends.’
He has taken time out for this second world title shot so as to give himself, as a heavy hitter ‘my chance of landing the one big punch which is my only chance of beating Joshua.’
He adds: ‘This won’t go the distance. He can hurt me but I can hurt him like I’ve hurt everyone I’ve fought, win or lose. One of us is getting knocked out.’
The odds on that happening heavily favour Joshua but he is taking no chances, saying: ‘Molina comes across as a nice guy but I can’t risk being taken in. This good guy will no doubt come to the ring with bad intentions.’
This is essentially a keep-busy fight for A.J. en route to potentially three big ones in 2017 — Wladimir Klitschko, Haye and rival WBC champion Deontay Wilder.
Reconnecting with the amateurs is giving him an interesting take on the first of those prospects: ‘Klitschko will be my gold medal fight as a professional.’
Molina vows to make it as difficult for Joshua to proceed in that direction as he made it tough for Wilder in his previous world title bout, in which he wobbled his fellow American and got up from three knock-downs before being stopped in the ninth round.
nevertheless, Joshua is likely to make shorter work of this likeable chap. Probably before the end of the fourth.