Boxing analysis: David Haye and Dereck Chisora humiliated an honourable sport

On Saturday evening I stayed up late listening to Dereck Chisora's fight against Vitali Klitscho. At the weigh in the up-and-coming British boxer had slapped Klitscho. It says much about the decency and polite nature of the Ukrainian that he allowed the fight to even take place after such a petulant piece of behaviour from an unheard-of underdog.

The act did Chisora no favours; he had underestimated the intelligence and cool professionalism of the heavyweight champion of the world and at the same time set the entire crowd against him. Chisora went some way in redeeming himself by fighting a good, strong fight which saw him make Vitali work hard for the full twelve rounds. On occasions such as this, when a spirited young challenger tries to make all against a dominant favourite, crowds will often sympathise with the underdog. This was not the case on Saturday and the boxing fans in Frankfurt that evening continued to demonstrate their disdain for Chisora, despite his valiant efforts in the ring, by chanting the name of Klitscho up until the final bell.

I went to bed with the view that despite all that had happened at the weigh-in, Chisora could be proud of what he had done and also excited by the prospect of the fights that would come from that night's bout. A rematch against Tyson Fury, whom Chisora lost to in July, would have been a very interesting match, especially considering Fury's development since that fight.

However, what occurred at the press conference that evening has disgraced the name of British boxing. Dereck Chisora rose to the childish behaviour of David Haye, who stood up to make yet another predictable and ultimately boring tirade against the Klitscho brothers. Haye, who's reputation as a superb and technically gifted cruiserweight boxer has been tarnished by his consistent lack of respect towards the two men who have dominated the heavyweight division for the last decade, finally displayed his true colours.

Much of the blame for the brawl on Saturday has been put on Chisora, however, in many senses Haye had it coming. It was only because of the dignity of his previous opponents that such a fracas has not occurred before. It is not overly surprising that the inexperienced Chisora, adrenaline still pumping after 12 hard rounds in the ring, reacted the way he did. This does not excuse or justify Chisora's actions but might work to explain his reaction.

Both boxers must, of course, be punished. Chisora is likely to receive a ban from which he will return and may fight some interesting fights again. Haye's fate, however, is less certain. My expressed wish would be that he is exiled by both the world and the British boxing community and that we never have to hear about the boring oaf again.

The world's media is obsessed with the heavyweight division, meanwhile boxing fans are utterly bored by this stale and uninteresting weight class. I am happy to ignore the sensationalism surrounding these lumbering giants and to quietly follow the faster, more skilful and more competitive lower divisions. What saddens me, however, is when two untalented idiots in the heavyweight division ruin the unbelievable hard work of those in the lower divisions.

British boxing is undergoing a massive resurgence at the moment, with Nathan Clevery WBO light heavyweight champion of the world. Amir Khan and Carl Froch have recently lost world titles, but have some scintillating fights lined up as challengers to win their titles back. Meanwhile, the likes of James De Gale and George Groves represent an exciting new wave of British boxers all raring to enter the world stage and battling hard against each other on the domestic and European stage.

Hopefully Chisora and Haye will be dealt with quickly and with as little noise as possible, so that British boxing fans can receive the coverage on the fights they actually want to watch, such as Nathan Cleverly's title defence next weekend against American Tommy Karpency. Personally, the fight I look forward to with most relish is George Groves' match up against Scotland's favourite pugilist, Kenny Anderson, at Wembley on the 16th March for the British Super Middle Weight title.