Dereck Chisora 'lost his mind' during bottle-throw incident
Saturday 7 May 2016 23:20, UK
Dereck Chisora admitted he 'lost his mind' after being hit by a plastic bottle at the weigh-in for Saturday's European heavyweight title fight with Kubrat Pulev.
The British fighter was struck by the bottle as he posed for a face-off with Pulev ahead of the clash in Hamburg, which will be shown on Sky Sports, and stormed off stage to chase after his assailant.
Chisora shoved aside security guards as he battled through photographers to reach the man, thought to be a member of Pulev's entourage, and eventually continued his pursuit down a hotel corridor.
I think any man, if they got hit in the face with a bottle, would lose their mind, and I just did that.
"That was it, I just lost my mind," Chisora exclusively told Sky Sports. "I think any man, if they got hit in the face with a bottle, would lose their mind, and I just did that."
"It is the second time I've been hit by a bottle in Germany," added the 32-year-old, who was struck by a bottle in his infamous brawl with David Haye after a points defeat to Vitali Klitschko in 2012.
"You don't get fired up for fights, you've got to be so calm and chilled out. I think he [Pulev] is more paranoid and more scared.
"Was he trying to promote the fight? I don't know. I was worried in case that was a glass bottle. You know that would have been my career over, everything would have been messed up."
'Del Boy' had also clashed with Pulev at the pre-fight press conference for the bout, which also serves as an IBF eliminator, and the Londoner felt he should have received more protection from the security guards at the venue.
"I went mad, I'm not going to hold back, I went mad," said Chisora.
"A simple reason why I don't want to have my security around me - because they are crazier than me. I decided to trust the hotel security, but they didn't help and now I've learned my lesson. Next time I'll bring about 25 goons with me."
Tyson Fury has offered words of support after twice defeating Chisora and the WBO and WBA heavyweight champion even suggested he could be ringside in Germany, despite his ongoing training camp for a July rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.
Live Fight Night
Chisora expressed his gratitude and also sent a message of support to Anthony Crolla ahead of his WBA lightweight title defence against Ismael Barroso this Saturday night in Manchester, live on Sky Sports.
"It's amazing for boxing right now," Chisora said. "Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, myself, other fighters are coming back - David Price, Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder, Alexander Povetkin.
"The heavyweight game is coming back to life. If he wants to come and watch the fight, he's welcome to, but I would advise him to keep his head down and train because he's got a big fight coming up. Maybe I might go and see him train - who knows?
"There are two big fights on Saturday night. You've got Anthony Crolla himself, who has got a hard fight. This is the hardest fight in his career. This guy don't mess around and then you've got myself. I'll be rooting for Anthony Crolla when I'm on this side of Europe."
Watch Pulev v Chisora live on Sky Sports 2 as part of the Anthony Crolla v Ismael Barroso card on Saturday from 7.30pm
