David Haye insists Derek Chisora is right to carry on fighting despite fears over his long-term health.
Chisora, 38, heads into his 45th professional fight this Saturday as he rematches Kubrat Pulev in London. 'War' is without a win in almost three years heading into the fight, losing twice to Joseph Parker and to Oleksandr Usyk in his past three outings.
Some fans have pleaded with Chisora to retire and avoid taking any more punishment, but Chisora has insisted he will continue fighting. And Haye fears his former rival would "die quicker" if he hung up his gloves, stating: "It would be worse for him to retire and start drinking and smoking.
"He would die a lot quicker doing that. Now boxing keeps him healthy, it keeps him looking at his nutrition, it keeps him having brain scans once a year. I think it is a good advertisement the fact that that he can lose fights and still have the fans come to see him and still have people supporting him,”
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"How many people go get a brain scan to make sure they are tip top? Very, very few. The British boxing board are very stringent with medical procedures to be able to box and he’s checked and cleared. If there are any signs or changes to his brain from one year to the next then he wouldn’t have a licence."
Haye and Chisora fought a decade ago and had a violent brawl before Chisora fought Wladimir Klitschko in Munich. The bad blood between the pair was eventually settled and Haye even served as Chisora's manager in 2018, but the pair split three years later.
Chisora has fought some of the best heavyweights in the world during his career and Haye would still match him up against today's best. “I would chuck him in with anyone, he has fought the best. Tyson Fury, me, Dillian Whyte, he has been in there and I would chuck him in," he added.
“He’s open class. He has fought Usyk, the guy who has the most heavyweight belts and most people who were there at the venue thought Derek won the fight, even Usyk’s team who I was sitting with thought Derek won the fight, you can throw him in with anyone. There was talk about Wilder and Daniel Dubois and - if he wants to do it - it will sell. You know what you’re getting.”
Watch Chisora v Pulev live on DAZN tomorrow at 7pm
