David Haye and Dereck Chisora take their fierce and bitter rivalry into the ring as two British heavyweights go toe-to-toe at Upton Park on Saturday night, exclusively live on BoxNation.
Both fighters will finally have the opportunity to settle their differences following their infamous brawl in Munich back in February, in what promises to be one of the most controversial but eagerly anticipated all-British fights of recent years.
Haye and Chisora will battle for the WBO International and WBA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championships, in a fight being billed as “Licensed to Thrill”.
The fight has divided pundits, promoters and journalists within British boxing since it was announced, and whilst there has been plenty of discussion on the rights and wrongs of the fight there is an undoubted demand to know who will win this ultimate grudge match.
As neither fighter holds a British boxing licence, the Frank Warren-promoted fight will be sanctioned by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation, instead of the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC), a move which questioned the authority of the British governing body.
The road to the right started in February, when Haye and Chisora were at the centre of a memorable press conference brawl in the hours following Chisora’s defeat to Vitali Klitschko.
Former World Heavyweight champion Haye, who had been working as a TV pundit for BoxNation on the night, disrupted the media event, causing Chisora to depart the stage and engage in a messy brawl before hundreds of assembled media figures.
Whilst some saw this as the most shameful night in the recent history of British boxing, others took the opportunity to set up a contest in the ring.
Despite the controversy in Munich and a disappointing performance against Wladimr Klitschko in his last fight, David Haye has been one of Britain’s stand out fighters over the last decade.
The ‘Hayemaker’ first dominated the cruiserweight division, unifying the WBA, WBO and WBC titles with a pulsating second round knockout over Enzo Maccarinelli in 2008.
He soon moved up to the heavyweight division, and defeated man mountain Nikolay Valuev to secure the WBA World Heavyweight Championship in 2009 before successful defences against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison.
The Bermondsey fighter’s most recent bout was a memorable, but unsuccessful, unification bout against Wladimir Klitschko in July 2011.
In the aftermath of the fight, Haye confirmed his intentions to retirement from the sport.
Dereck ‘Del Boy’ Chisora has stepped into the limelight, perhaps for the wrong reasons, in the last year.
The Zimbabwe-born, London-based heavyweight has a 15-3 record, losing three of his last four bouts.
In his last outing, Chisora memorably lost against Vitali Klitschko as he attempted to take his WBC World Heavyweight Championship in Munich.
The fight weekend was marred by a string of incidents, including Chisora spitting water in Vitali’s brother Wladimir’s face immediately prior to the fight, and the post-fight altercation he shared with David Haye from which Chisora lost his British licence.
BoxNation will have all the action from West Ham’s Upton Park Stadium in London, including extensive coverage of the undercard fights, with Jim Rosenthal introducing the subscription channel’s live coverage.
Expert analysis comes from Steve Bunce, and commentary will be provided by John Rawling and Paul Smith.
In the build-up to the fight, BoxNation will screen a raft of special programming, a majority of which will be available to watch for free (see TV schedule below).
BoxNation, boxing’s only TV channel dedicated, is available on Sky (channel 437) and Virgin Media (channel 546).
To watch Haye v Chisora, viewers must subscribe to BoxNation for £10 per month, plus an administration fee.
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For those who do not have access to the TV coverage, talkSPORT will have live radio commentary of the fight, presented by Mark Saggers from 7pm, with commentary from Ronald McIntosh and Richie Woodhall.
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