Derek Chisora lost his WBC heavyweight title fight against Vitali Klitschko on a unanimous points decision in Munich on this day in 2012.

Chisora took Klitschko the distance over 12 rounds, but the bout was littered with controversy before and after.

The then-28-year-old Chisora slapped Klitschko the day before their meeting at the weigh-in and the ill-feeling continued up until the first bell with a row over the Londoner’s hand wraps.

Chisora was booed into the ring and immediately aimed to get into his opponent’s face as soon as Klitschko entered after spitting water in his brother’s direction when the introductions were made.

More unsavoury scenes followed after the fight as the evening took another ugly turn when Chisora clashed with fellow British heavyweight David Haye, sparking a brawl which left Haye’s manager Adam Booth with a facial cut.

Chisora showed aggression and punch resistance in the ring, but Klitschko remained in control throughout and dominated in the opening rounds.

The Briton landed a couple of good shots in the seventh, but the Ukrainian responded with a blow near the ear which was the first time Chisora looked hurt and he landed another powerful punch the following round to exercise his authority.

Chisora kept battling until the final bell, where a unanimous verdict was announced in Klitschko’s favour with scores of 118-110 twice and 119-111.

“First of all I’m very happy to defend my title. It was not an easy fight,” Klitschko said post-fight.

“It was a good performance from Chisora, he was very motivated, putting me under pressure throughout the 12 rounds.”

Regarding the incidents in the build-up to the fight, he added: “I have respect for Chisora as a fighter but I don’t have respect for him as a human.

“He showed a bad example for all boxing, for all fighters. He came from Great Britain but he’s not a gentleman.”

Tyson Fury has promised he would go to war for England as he praised those attempting to defend Ukraine from Russia's invasion.

The British heavyweight vowed to follow the lead of the likes of brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko and Oleksandr Usyk if his homeland issues a call to arms.

WBC champion Fury said he would be "first in line" if civilians were to be conscripted.

Vitali Klitschko is mayor of Kyiv, while his brother and fellow former world heavyweight champion Wladimir has joined a territorial defense brigade. Usyk, a reigning world heavyweight champion, has also signed up, as has fellow star boxer Vasiliy Lomachenko.

Fury said in a news conference on Tuesday: "Fantastic. I'll be the first one to join up if England get involved or America. I'll be first in line for the job.

"My dad will as well, me and all the boys will be signing up to defend. So that's what I've got to say.

"If you're from that country and living there, defend it. Love your woman and fight for your country, that's what I say."

Fury puts his WBC heavyweight belt on the line against Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium on April 23.

It remains to be seen when the likes of Usyk and Lomachenko become available to resume their sporting careers

Frank Warren, Fury's co-promoter, said: "Everybody should be absolutely pulling for Ukraine, standing up to the bully, standing up for democracy.

"Those four fighters, everybody should be behind them. It's magnificent what they're doing."

Wladimir Klitschko has called on "the entire world" to help stop the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, amid Russia's invasion of the country.

Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday after weeks of rising political tension. That conflict escalated on Friday and into Saturday, with fighting now reported to have reached the capital, Kyiv.

Wladimir, a two-time heavyweight world champion, and his older brother Vitali, who is the mayor of Kyiv, have both pledged to take up arms to help defend the city and their country.

In a video posted to his official Twitter account on Saturday, Wladimir Klitschko spoke powerfully of the need for more action from other nations.

Heavy sanctions have been placed on Russia by the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, though there is no sign of a ceasefire. 

Russian officials have offered to hold peace talks with their Ukrainian counterparts, though only on the condition that Ukraine's army surrenders.

"I'm addressing the entire world, to stop this war that Russia has started," Wladimir Klitschko said in the video. 

"Just today, civilians were shot by the rockets with special operations surveillance getting killed(*), and it's happening in the heart of Europe.

"There's no time to wait, because it's going to bleed into a humanitarian catastrophe.

"You need to act now to stop Russian aggression, with anything you can have now. In an hour, or by tomorrow, it's going to be too late. Please, get into action now. Don't wait, act now, stop this war."

Multiple sportspeople and organisations have called for the end of the conflict, with Russia having been stripped of the Champions League final – initially due to be held in St Petersburg – and the Formula One Russian Grand Prix.

 

(*) Wladimir Klitschko's claim could not been verified at the time of publication.

Oleksandr Usyk will aim to make the most of his opportunity on Saturday, with the Ukrainian looking to upset the odds and dethrone Anthony Joshua in London. 

Already holding the IBF, WBA and WBO titles, heavyweight Joshua appeared set for a hugely lucrative unification showdown with Tyson Fury, holder of the WBC belt, that would identify an undisputed champion in the division. 

An arbitration hearing put paid to that plan, though, as Fury was ordered to face Deontay Wilder for a third time, denying boxing fans the fight they desperately wanted to see. 

However, Usyk is an intriguing prospect for Joshua to deal with. Dominant at cruiserweight before stepping up, the 34-year-old has the potential to cause problems, considering both his boxing skills and outstanding resume. 

Britain may dominate right now, but fighters from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics have ruled the roost at different times, albeit with varying degrees of longevity.  

 

VITALI KLITSCHKO

The baton passed from the famed heavyweights of the 1990s to the coming generation when Lennox Lewis uncharacteristically slugged his way to victory over Vitali Klitschko in Los Angeles in June 2003. The last man standing from his era after comprehensively beating Mike Tyson, Lewis was given hell by "Dr Steelhammer" but managed to inflict enough damage for the challenger to be stopped on cuts after six gruelling rounds.

Lewis never boxed again and Klitschko never lost again, winning 13 fights in succession either side of a four-year retirement. He lifted the WBC title and settled a family grudge by stopping Corrie Sanders in April 2004. He was never without the famous green belt in the ring up until he hung up his gloves in 2012 to focus full-time on a political career than now sees Vitali serving at the Mayor of Kyiv.

WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO

The younger Klitschko was the first eastern European to lift a heavyweight title in the 21st century when he twice floored Chris Byrd on the way to a unanimous decision to win the WBO belt in October 2000. Byrd became champion in his previous fight when, way down on the cards, Vitali withdrew on his stool due to a shoulder injury. It meant Vitali was returning a favour against Sanders, who demolished Wladimir over two harrowing rounds in March 2003.

Another knockout loss followed a little over a year with the vacant WBO strap on the line against Lamon Brewster. At that stage, it was impossible to foresee the imperious dominance that would follow a second win over Byrd for the IBF and 18 successful defences. Closing out his career with losses to Fury and Joshua carried a heavy sense changing eras, as with his brother and Lewis a decade and a half earlier.

NIKOLAI VALUEV

All the men on this list could lay claim to the moniker of "Beast from the East" but none would be able to pull it off as well as the preposterously proportioned Valuev. Standing at 7ft and tipping the scales at over 300lbs, he became the tallest and heaviest heavyweight champion in history. Valuev's skills were akin to a rudimentary club fighter, but he was just far too big for most opponents to handle.

Each of his two stints as WBA ruler began with prophetically forgettable points wins over John Ruiz and after a 2008 loss to a pot-shotting David Haye he walked away to a varied post-fight career. Like Klitschko he entered politics, winning election to the State Duma in Russia's 2011 parliamentary election. He also became an unlikely face of children's television in his homeland, presenting the long-running "Good Night, Little Ones!".

SIARHEI LIAKHOVICH

Liakhovich's period reign as WBO champion lasted seven months. The Belarusian won a unanimous decision win over Brewster in April 2006, despite taking a knee in the seventh. He was up on the cards when Shannon Briggs dramatically knocked him through the ropes during the closing seconds of his first defence. Briggs was the last American to get his hands on any portion of the heavyweight title before Wilder's WBC reign began in 2015. Two years earlier, the "Bronze Bomber" left Liakhovich quivering on the canvas after a terrifying first-round KO.

OLEG MASKAEV

Three months before Briggs' late show against Liakhovich, Maskaev battered one-time Lewis conqueror Hasim Rahman to defeat inside the final minute of their August 2006 rematch in Las Vegas. A product of the Soviet amateur system, Maskaev based himself in the US for the majority of his professional career. He was 37 by the time he ripped the WBC crown from Rahman and, after a successful defence against Okello Peter in Moscow, the Kazakh-born fighter was knocked out by Samuel Peter - the "Nigerian Nightmare" who was himself stopped by a returning Vitali Klitschko next time out.

RUSLAN CHAGAEV

If the WBA was a sofa, Chagaev would be the loose change they continue to find lurking between the cushions. He first won the organisation's belt with a majority decision win over Valuev in April 2007, although subsequent illness and injury led to him being declared "champion in recess". As such, the WBA belt was not on the line when his corner waved off a June 2009 shellacking at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko after nine rounds.

The organisation then elected to install Chagaev not as its champion but number one challenger, and he dropped an August 2011 decision to Alexander Povetkin for the vacant belt. The story did not end there, however, as Chagaev and the unheralded Fres Oquendo were selected to box for the WBA's vacant "regular" title in July 2014. Almost two years and one competitive round later, Chagaev was knocked out by Lucas Browne, who then failed a drugs test. The Uzbek was given back his title, only to be stripped in July 2016 for failing to pay the WBA sanctioning fees for that already barely remembered Oquendo contest, seemingly ending the saga.

SULTAN IBRAGIMOV

Not one to linger like Chagaev, Russia's Sydney 2000 heavyweight silver medallist Ibragimov outpointed Briggs in his 22nd professional bout to lift the WBO belt in June 2007. Under the tutelage of Jeff Mayweather, he comfortably beat the great Evander Holyfield in his first defence. A unification showdown with Wladimir Klitschko was most notable for the Madison Square Garden crowd booing a safety-first affair. With that sole defeat, Ibragimov was gone, retiring in 2009 due to persistent injuries to his left hand.

ALEXANDER POVETKIN

Another decorated amateur, Povetkin won super-heavyweight gold at the 2004 Olympics and made four defences of the WBA title after beating Chagaev. To repeat a theme, all roads led to an uncompromising Klitschko, with Wladimir sending him to the canvas four times during a landslide Moscow triumph in October 2013. Failed drugs tests did little for Povetkin's wider reputation and put paid to a proposed meeting with Wilder.

A promising start unravelled to a seventh-round stoppage when challenging Joshua in September 2018, although Povetkin sensationally recovered from two knockdowns to ice Dillian Whyte this year. After losing the rematch, the Russian announced his retirement at the age of 41.

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