David Haye, Who Often Talks A Bit Better Than He Fights, Misses Conference Call

Dereck Chisora promised fireworks on a Monday conference call to hype the Saturday bad-blood showdown, between him and David Haye, which will run on EPIX.

“It will be a fight,” he reiterated several times, and fight fans have to hope that Haye, who talked a stellar game before fighting Nicolay Valuev and Wladimir Klitschko, but didn’t deliver any of the promised violence or aggression, would prove to be a willing dance partner. “Trust me, he’s getting knocked out,” he said. “He’s going to go down in round seven.”

Haye was due to be on the call, but he no showed. “He’s a drama queen,” said Chisora when informed when Haye decided not to take part. “I don’t really care to be honest.”

The show, taking place in Upton Park, England, will kick off at 4:30 ET. Executive producer Travis Pomposello came on the call, and thanked fans listening in for being on the call. He said this is the third appearance for Chisora on EPIX. The Chisora-Robert Helenius scrap and Dereck’s bout against Vitali Klitschko were also offered by EPIX.

Promoter Frank Warren said that the controversy surrounding the bout started when Haye showed up to needle Chisora (15-3 with nine KOs) at the postfight presser after his loss to Vitali in February in Munich. The bout was a possibility before the Klitschko fight, he said, but solidified because of the tussle. Such bad blood is no stranger in boxing, he said. Warren recalled the scrap before the Tyson-Lewis bout, and the Tyson-Rahman bout. But this time, the British Boxing Board of Control reacted harshly. That board took away Chisora’s license, as opposed to back in 2000, when Tyson shoved the ref after beating Lou Savarese, when they merely fined him. Warren said that treatment led to him securing the Luxembourg board to sanction this bout. Tix are moving briskly, Warren said.

The promoter noted that Chisora deseved to lose against Tyson Fury, because he was overweight, but he redeemed himself against Helenius. Then, Chisora got good work in against Klitschko, and that busyness will help him against Haye, who Warren said hasn’t been very busy.

Chisora then got on the call. He said camp has been good and that he has no injuries. His last day of sparring is Wednesday.

Chisora had come across Haye a couple times, but they didn’t clash. After the Vitali fight, Haye crashed the presser, and Chisora said that took away some of the goodwill from his good showing against Klitschko. He said he regretted making a comment about killing Haye (25-2), and that he’s never had a gun. He said Haye was the one who had a weapon, that he brought a glass beer bottle into the mix. He said he’s over that, though.

Chisora said Haye does his best fighting before the fight, with his mouth, and that isn’t his style. “I’m going to give you a great fight,” he said. He said Haye trains hard and is a great athlete. It won’t go the distance, he said. Will they shake after, forgive and forget? “We’ll see,” he said.

“All he’s got is talking,” Chisora said when asked about Haye’s pre-fight bragging. He said he wants to fight, not dance or duck a la Haye. He said he was born in the wrong era, as he likes to fight, and isn’t basketball-tall.

Chisora said he learned early on the ride with the punch, after in his third fight, against Darren Morgan, he got tagged. He sounded like he was confident he could handle Haye’s power. He said “definitely” that he will make Haye feel his punches.

Chisora said he isn’t worried about the judges, and that his style will be tough for Haye, because he will be all over him. Warren said Valuev moves like Frankenstein, so it won’t be so easy for Haye to move. “I see Dereck being too mobile, too fast for him,” he said.