David Haye and Dereck Chisora fight this weekend in West Ham, London. This is a fight that has been in the making since (at least) February when Haye crashed a press conference following Chisora’s decision loss to Vitali Klitschko and started a brawl. (video below) Yesterday, at their pre-fight presser they decided to bring a big metal fence on stage to keep the heavyweights separated. Then today, the two were separated by the same fence at the weigh-ins. (video above)

As absurd as all that sounds, Chisora and Haye do deserve credit for at least two things in the lead up to the fight. They have agreed that whichever fighter gets knocked out on Saturday will give $31,000 to charity and that that they will both submit to blood testing. The press conference attracted a reported 29,000 spectators. Chisora’s manager says this fight is really quite important.

“I can’t think of such a fast-selling fight involving so much publicity since we bought Mike Tyson back, over 10 years ago,” said Frank Warren, Chisora’s manager.

Well then. Mike Tyson-level. How do we get a Klitschko involved?

“If Dereck comes through on Saturday like I know he can, then the biggest fight here in the UK would be Wladimir Klitschko,” Warren said. “Get this one out of the way and that is the direction we are going in.”

As a reminder, Chisora is 15-3. He has lost two straight and 3 of his last 4 fights. Haye is 25-2 and lost his last fight to Wladamir Klitschko before “retiring.” Yet somehow, this fight will be for the WBA Intercontinental and WBO Heavyweight International titles. That’s boxing. There’s always money to be made.

I would ask how much of this was staged, but as I noted when this first happened, Haye was swinging a fucking tripod. That brawl looked real as hell. Of course, I also said I would watch the press conferences. That was just a  lie.

One last thing – Chisora weighed in at 247 pounds today while Haye barely tipped the scales at 210 pounds. That’s amazing considering Haye is listed as 3 inches taller.

[USA Today, Getty]

Previously: David Haye Started a Brawl with Dereck Chisora at the Vitali Klitschko Post-Fight Press Conference
Previously: Dereck Chisora Slapped Vitali Klitschko At The Weigh-In