David Haye made it as far as the car park of the Hotel Cottage in Dudelange for some photos and autograph signings, before being bustled off to a private medical centre where he underwent a physical examination.

The purpose of the visit was to acquire a boxing licence granted by the Luxembourg Boxing Federation, provided he passes the medical, in anticipation of the highly controversial fight with Derek Chisora on the 14th of July at Upton Park in London.

It was easy to detect a lack of experience on the part of the organisers in hosting this press conference, which was at risk of being postponed after a 2.5 hour delay, leaving fans and the media alike distraught at the idea of not being able to witness the presence of such a sporting icon.

However David Haye didn’t disappoint. He finally made his appearance after successfully qualifying for a licence, with just enough time to thank the Luxembourg Boxing Federation and answer a few questions.

In his opening remarks, David acclaimed his macaroni lunch was “fantastic” before moving on to more important dialogue such as how he ended up choosing to come to Luxembourg. “It all started when Derek Chisora’s manager Frank Warren approached me asking if I wanted to fight Derek, saying that Luxembourg would provide the licence.”

Regarding the fight itself David continues “I didn’t really want it to be honest, but it’s a fight that the whole world wants to see. The amount of attention I got from sports fans and the media made me say ok then, let’s do it!”

In describing his opponent as `Derek del boy crazy man Chisora´ David reiterated his desire to settle the score having previously met in the well-documented press conference bust up, an incident that has since had 20 million hits on YouTube.

“I don’t think this fight will be remembered as one of my greatest. Derek has lost his last 3 title fights, but I’m going to make sure it will be a great fight regardless. This time we’re going do it like real men, in a boxing ring with rules and regulations.”

Despite it not being a title fight, David sees it as a great opportunity to prove he is once again worthy for a rematch against World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko, having already once been defeated by the Ukrainian.

“It’s not good to look too far in advance but this fight is like a semi-final, the winner will fight Klitschko. I would love to get revenge on him (Klitschko), he beat me fair and square, it wasn’t my best performance, but he publicly said he wanted to fight me again.”

With so much at stake for both boxers and a world stage on which to perform, it seems not even the British Boxing Board of Control, who believe the sanctioning of this fight will bring boxing into disrepute can stop it now. Thus adding fuel to the statement “the show must go on!”

By Paul Howarth