Klitschko’s lair holds no fears for Chisora

Published on Thursday 16 February 2012 03:35

Dereck Chisora insists he is far from worried by the prospect of challenging Vitali Klitschko in the WBC heavyweight champion’s German stronghold on Saturday.

Londoner Chisora, 28, faces veteran champion Klitschko in Munich hoping to pull off one of the biggest shocks in recent years by dethroning the 40-year-old and becoming Britain’s eighth world heavyweight champion. He will do so in front of a hugely pro-Klitschko crowd at the Olympiahalle, while relying on barely a handful of travelling supporters himself. Chisora, though, has no concerns about the potentially hostile atmosphere.

“We’re fighting in his back yard, in Munich, and it will be great. Klitschko fans are not that loud, to be honest. They are quite quiet. The Germans are not that loud at fights and I just have to block any noise they do make,” said Chisora.

Chisora is a huge underdog after losing two of his last three fights – against Tyson Fury in a British and Commonwealth title clash last summer and Robert Helenius in a controversial European crown scrap before Christmas – but has shrugged off the naysayers’ predictions.

“I don’t care what people think,” he insists. “They are not the ones who are going into the ring. I am the one who is doing the fighting so I will decide what happens. I have taken those defeats and now here I am boxing for a world title. And it wasn’t a defeat against Helenius in Finland, I was robbed. Being defeated and being robbed are two different things. I knew I had won the fight that night. I was robbed.”

Chisora faces Klitschko looking to seize his chance after twice seeing the champion’s brother Wladimir pull out of a voluntary defence of his IBF and WBO belts against him. They were supposed to fight in December 2010, and then a rescheduled date of April last year, before Wladimir pulled out with an abdominal injury twice. Chisora insists it is water under the bridge.

“I’m just excited for this fight and I hope the public will love it,” he said. “The two Wladimir fights are in the past now. I don’t cry over spilled milk. That’s in the past.

“They are both difficult fighters. Wladimir has more about him than Vitali. He moves around a lot, the older brother has had to change his whole style of boxing since he had that operation on his knee years ago.”

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