Dereck Chisora & Robert Helenius
In recent months British professional boxerDereck Chisora’s ill-tempered behaviour and scuffles outside the boxing ring have been the cause of much astonishment and disbelief among the general public and boxing professionals alike.The biggest stir followed a brawl between Chisora and his countrymanDavid Haye, a former WBA Heavyweight Champion, during a press conference following Chisora’s loss to Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko in a WBC Heavyweight Championship bout in Munich, Germany, just over a week ago.
Apparently a large-scale post-fight scuffle almost broke out also in Helsinki in December, after the fight in which the vacant European heavyweight title belt was awarded on a split decision on points to Finland’s Robert Helenius, much to the amazement of Chisora - and in all fairness - to the astonishment of the rest of the boxing world.
After the fight, the disappointed Chisora and his entourage tried to attack Helenius, when the Finnish boxer was exiting the ring at Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena.
The situation was seriously threatening, and in panic some people called for the security guards to intervene.
“Luckily the heavies were keeping track of what was happening. In Finland these guys know their job. The mob tried to enter Robert’s dressing room, but the attempt was foiled by the guards. But they did try hard”, explains Robert Helenius’s father Karl.
“A couple of guys. Chisora was not there, and neither was his coach.”
According to a reliable eyewitness, however, Chisora himself - who was already wearing a hoodie - was leading the mob.
“Fucking pussy”, Chisora was heard raging at Helenius, who was on his way to the dressing room after winning the bout against all expectations.
The mob led by Chisora came through one riot fence but stopped behind the doors.
What added to the drama was that moments earlier a young man, who had had a serious attack of some kind, had been resuscitated in the same corridor.
Karl Helenius actually defends Dereck Chisora to some extent.
“The background forces are the worst. They get Chisora to lose his cool. He is just overdoing his self-marketing. Once ‘Robbe’, too, erred to go along with the shouting and ‘exchanging of pleasantries’, but not anymore. He is a gentleman.”
Also in the opinion of the World Boxing Council, one of the governing bodies sanctioning world championship bouts in boxing, Chisora has gone too far with his antics.
The WBC announced late on Tuesday evening that it would suspend Chisora indefinitely from further championship bouts, and also removed the London-based fighter from its rankings.
According to the WBC, Chisora’s behaviour in Germany was ““among the worst ever by a professional boxer”.
The sanctioning body urged Chisora to attend anger management classes, after which his case could be reviewed again.
However, the WBC is only one of four bodies that sanction world championship boxing matches and cannot ban Chisora from the sport altogether or revoke his boxing licence.
This means that Chisora’s fate is now in the hands of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC), the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom.
The BBBofC will hear Chisora on March 14th. If the organisation decides to remove Chisora’s licence it will be very difficult for him to continue as a professional fighter.
Chisora could apply for a licence from some other country, but more than likely governing bodies in other countries would support the decision by the BBBofC.
Chisora is already definitely persona non grata with German boxing authorities after the incidents some days ago, where - aside from the post-bout brawl - he slapped his opponent at the weigh-in and spat in the face of Klitschko's brother Wladimir just before the fight.
“Normally we dance to the same tune”, says Pertti Augustin, Secretary-General of the Finnish Professional Boxing Union.
Chisora, 28, is also under a threat of a prison sentence. Last year he was found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend and received a suspended sentence. The events in Munich may cause him to lose his freedom. Among other things, Chisora threatened to shoot and burn David Haye.
Karl Helenius again comes to the defence of Chisora.
“The entire affair was silly, especially the threats. But Haye was the one who started it. Chisora did not strike anyone. Instead, Haye hit his own promoter over the head with a camera tripod, causing him to start bleeding”, Helenius says, shaking his head.
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