Dereck Chisora has been described as a “disgrace” following a brawl with fellow British heavyweight boxer, David Haye, following his points defeat at the hands of Vitali Klitschko on Saturday night. The day before Chisora was fined for slapping Klitschko at the weigh-in.
Funny that, these men get paid hundreds of thousands of Pounds for hitting each other. Yet a slap here, an unauthorised punch there, and the boxing authorities get serious. There is discussion, rightly, of Chisora losing his boxing licence.
How different from the boxing establishment’s reaction in 2010 when Chisora was convicted for domestic violence. He received a 12 week prison sentence suspended for 2 years after assaulting his then girlfriend. The Court heard on that occasion that he had previous convictions for public order offences, assaulting a police officer and possession of an offensive weapon.
Luckily for Chisora that boxing promoter Frank Warren was in court that day and handed the judge a letter ‘vouching’ for Chisora. There was never any suggestion then that he should lose his boxing licence then.
‘Kick Racism Out of Football’ has achieved some remarkable results. At Brighton and Hove Albion there is a new initiative to end homophobia in football. Sussex County Cricket Club sacked Ed Giddins for drug use. Isn’t it time now for sport to take a principled stand against sexism and sexist violence?
