Joshua backs official decision on Chisora bout
ANTHONY Joshua has backed the British Boxing Board of Control’s decision to allow Dereck Chisora’s heavyweight bout against Dillian Whyte to go ahead in Manchester tonight.
Chisora was fined £25,000 and handed a suspended two-year ban at an emergency Board hearing after the pair’s press conference erupted into vio- lence on Wednesday.
The Board seriously considered scrapping the contest, which is the chief support for Joshua’s IBF title defence against American Eric Molina.
Although Joshua’s relaxed demeanour is in sharp contrast to his combustible counterpart, the 27-year-old laughed off the incident.
Joshua said: “It’s wasted energy. I’ve been there with Dillian and we just didn’t get along. I wasted a lot of energy and you saw that in the type of fight I fought.
“At the end of the day, this is fighting. Throughout the history of boxing, you have these type of incidents.
“This is not tennis, this is a gladiatorial sport. It’s fight or flight, so you’re going to get it. You saw that with Tony Bellew and David Haye – guys are going to attack each other. It happens sometimes.”
In addition to the fine and suspended ban handed to Chisora, the Board also elected to remove the bout’s sanction as a British heavyweight title defence by Whyte.
Joshua may have good reason to exhibit a more relaxed attitude, as he is widely seen to face an easy night against Molina, whose main qualification for coming into contact with the surging Joshua tonight is a commendable effort he put up against current WBC champion Deontay Wilder last June.
But the 34-year-old Texan is clearly seen as a stepping-stone to a major showdown against Wladimir Klitschko next year, and Joshua believes another quick win will herald the start of the prime period of his career.