Chisora comes under attack

Dereck Chisora: Attacked by coach

Heavyweight Dereck Chisora has been attacked by his own coach during training it emerged on Thursday.

Preparations for his grudge match with David Haye on July 14 appear to have been thrown into disarray following the bust-up with long-standing coach Don Charles.

"I regret attacking him because you should never put your hands on someone but I'm a human being with emotions so don't disrespect me. "
Don Charles Quotes of the week

Chisora and Haye are due to fight it out at Upton Park after they became involved in a brawl at a press conference in Munich back in February.

But the 28-year-old Londoner may now be forced to complete his training without his mentor after the pair came to blows.

In a further twist in the build-up to the controversial fight, Charles said he had lashed out at Chisora after his charge had asked him to remove his headgear.

"I won't go into the details as to why he wanted his head gear off," he told BoxNation. "There's a way to tell someone something and it's called respect.

"I'm not a nutter. He asked me to take his head gear off and I physically attacked him.

Father

"It's the worst thing that's happened since I've been with him and I've been with him for 10 years; I'm like a father to him.

"There is no father around, he's the man in his house so he finds it very hard to take instructions from another man. There is definitely a problem there.

"I regret attacking him because you should never put your hands on someone but I'm a human being with emotions so don't disrespect me.

"I will not tolerate it. My mother and father don't talk to me like that and certainly not someone I've helped for 10 years to become the boxer he is.

"I don't know if we will rekindle it. He employs me to train him as does his manager [Frank Warren] so it's up to them if I'm fired or not."

The showdown has already courted its fair share of controversy after the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) refused to license either fighter.

The Luxembourg Boxing Federation stepped in to allow the fight to go ahead but the BBBC condemned the move and threatened to withdraw the licence of anyone involved.

The BBBC's stance has prompted a number of boxers on the undercard to withdraw from the event.