Dereck Chisora claims 'boxing is dead' and needs characters

Last updated on .From the section Boxingcomments75

Dereck Chisora
Dereck Chisora

Dereck Chisora says that boxing is "dead" and personalities like his will get the sport greater attention.

Earlier in March, the 29-year-old was given a British Boxing Board of Control licence, a year after he had it removed following a brawl with David Haye.

But the heavyweight maintains he has no concerns about negative perceptions of him in the sport.

"Boxing is dead and you need people like me to bring it back up," Chisora told 5 live Boxing.

"Someone has to take the bad role and as long as people are tuning in and watching the sport that I love, I don't mind."

Chisora was banned by the World Boxing Council after the fracas with Haye but his subsequent fight against his fellow Briton, which Chisora lost in the fifth round, was sanctioned by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation.

The Londonder, who has undertaken anger management classes, is set to fight Ondrej Pala on 20 April and is targeting a fight with David Price later this year.

He added: "I don't mind going to Liverpool in the summer time for a big fight against David Price. I did take [anger classes] but I've kind of stopped now. We'll see one day if it's worked."

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75 comments

  • Comment posted by Ibra, at 15:09 20 Mar 2013

    Boxing doesn't need more guys like Chisora. Boxing needs to be unified under one organisation so that there's only one official world champion at a time. Increase the competition between the fighters, not the organisations.

  • Comment posted by U15548137, at 14:34 20 Mar 2013

    One things for sure - it doesnt need 'personalities' like this embarrassing muppet.

  • Comment posted by U15577032, at 15:07 20 Mar 2013

    Dont like the guy but he kind of has a point. All sports need personalities whether they are the good guy or the bad guy. Hes still an idiot though

  • Comment posted by I Miss That Shed, at 17:04 20 Mar 2013

    In what other mainstream sport do the top competitors choose who they get to compete against?

  • Comment posted by Matt, at 05:24 21 Mar 2013

    Boxing does not require more characters (especially like Mr Chisora) it requires more talented individuals.

    Hearns, Leonard, Tyson, etc, etc.

    Thugs have never been a draw.

  • Comment posted by U3081663, at 03:21 21 Mar 2013

    Boxing can be great to watch but it is too slow to follow. How popular would football be if Man Utd only played twice a year? And what if those matches were against Wigan and West Brom because they couldn't reach a financial agreement to face Man City or Chelsea.

  • Comment posted by celtic_craig123, at 09:39 22 Mar 2013

    Chisora needs the publicity more than boxing does. Outside of the heavyweight division, the sport is doing well and, arguably, is resurgent. There are some great fights right now and the undercards are improving too.

    It has been said recently that pound-for-pound, the money invested in the Olympic boxing team yielded more medals than any other sport at London 2012. Am and pro, we're doing well.

  • Comment posted by U15002972, at 09:32 22 Mar 2013

    What it needs is 'Good Boxers' with personalities and who are not pre occupied with protecting the "0"......... not this muppet.

    Sean Lock has a great personality, not sure he would do much for boxing though.

  • Comment posted by bryanirving, at 19:01 21 Mar 2013

    Boxing needs Chisora like a pub needs drunks. Let him go fight in the USA and 'liven up' the scene there. A few rounds with Deontay Wilder should get his adrenaline going.

  • Comment posted by eire73, at 09:28 21 Mar 2013

    @56 matt, tyson was a great fighter, but he was a complete thug,lol.

  • Comment posted by McBilbo, at 09:11 21 Mar 2013

    @57, I agree that Super 6 is a good format as it gives a finite aim, which, with so many belts in each division, the path forward isn't always clear and people get confused as to who is the true champ.
    Also I think that Prizefighter, for the same reasons, is a good format. I liken it to T20 cricket. I know quite a few people who have been drawn back into boxing via this tournament.

  • Comment posted by WeeWillieWinkie, at 08:58 21 Mar 2013

    Chisora, the dope with no hope.

  • Comment posted by U15624626, at 06:20 21 Mar 2013

    Like many who have mentioned here already, boxing has lost its soul pretty much. 20 years ago+, you would get 50-50 fights almost in all fights, now very rarely we get those.

    The last big fight I can remember was pacman v Marquez 4, which had everything what you want.

    The only other I felt a good concept came by was the super 6 for SM, which froch did well and fought top tied fighters.

  • Comment posted by U14344370, at 03:47 21 Mar 2013

    ....and people like you killed it.

  • Comment posted by U15486790, at 21:52 20 Mar 2013

    @48

    i don't like Haye - i really don't like him

    but he is in the top 10 heavyweights in the world, top 5 in fact.

  • Comment posted by Ewanmax, at 20:58 20 Mar 2013

    Anyone who thinks boxing is dead as a sport hasn't seen last Saturdays Tim Bradley -v- Ruslan Provodnikov fight. UK boxing is simply going through a downward spiral, how anyone could pay to watch Price, Fury, Chisora or Haye or even rate them as top Ten heavyweights is beyond me...

  • Comment posted by Joe King, at 20:34 20 Mar 2013

    Boxing in the UK has been "dead" for a number of years now.

    Used to be you needed a knockout to win in Italy. Now you need a KO to win in the UK. Refs are as bad as promoters with this.

    Titles - British promoters just make them up. Remember when Manchester had three "world champions"? It's even worse today with a made-up European title plus silver, intercontinental, belts etc.,

    Complete farce.

  • Comment posted by U14456505, at 19:44 20 Mar 2013

    Chisora is right, boxing is completely corrupt from the amateur level upwards, some hometown decisions have been shocking, my faith in the sport is almost gone

    Somebody with the charisma and skills of an ali is desperately needed, the only fight i want to see is fury v price.... What does that say!

  • Comment posted by ChrisKOTW, at 17:46 20 Mar 2013

    @25 I agree that MMA's popularity is soaring in some areas, Brazil especially, but I fear it's not popular enough in the places that really matter such as the USA and Europe. Plus there are still the ignorant majority that see two people in a cage and declare it "barbaric" and "human cockfighting" so I'm sure boxing will be able to outlast MMA even without the wacky characters.

  • Comment posted by Sportsmad19, at 17:03 20 Mar 2013

    I would prefer there to be one world title per weight divison and there is a problem with big fights not happening enough. However, I completely disagree that boxing is dead. We have a great domestic foundation for the sport and I think it's just Chisora being arrogant calling himself a big personality. It is still exciting although I would like there to be more terrestrial coverage on television.

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