Infamous press conference brawls after Canelo and Plant's fracas
Punches, flying tables (and KICKS), glasses thrown and wrestling on talk shows! Fights at press conferences and face offs is nothing new in boxing… here’s some of the most infamous brawls OUTSIDE of the ring after Canelo and Caleb Plant’s scrap
- Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant came to blows at their first press conference
- Press conference brawls are nothing new in boxing, with plenty over the years
- Likes of David Haye and Mike Tyson have all been guilty of them in the past
- Here, Sportsmail pick out some of boxing’s infamous brawls at media events
As Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant exchanged blows, the expression on Jimmy Lennon Jr’s face said it all.
Unperturbed, unfazed and unimpressed, this was nothing Lennon Jr had not seen before.
After all, press conference brawls and boxing go hand in hand.
Canelo Alvarez and Caleb Plant exchanged blows at their first press conference on Tuesday
Images later emerged of Plant’s wounds from the brawl with a nasty cut below his right eye
Canelo and Plant are not the first fighters to throw punches before the first bell and they won’t be the last, either.
No matter how far back you go, boxing press conferences have always been the same: animated, feisty and rarely ever dull.
It’s an event where death threats, tables being thrown and even Batman costumes are nothing out of the ordinary.
Here, in no particular order, Sportsmail pick out some of the craziest and most infamous brawls at press conferences and face offs in recent memory.
Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis’s press conference scrap
Mike Tyson often trespassed the line of decency in his career and starting a fight with Lennox Lewis out of nothing at their pre-fight press conference was one of those times.
It was one of the first promotional events for the fight and tongues were certainly wagging afterwards. After Lewis took his place across the room from Tyson, the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ marched across to his rival, took a swing at his bodyguard and all-out carnage broke loose. In the melee, Tyson even tried to bite Lewis’ leg and was subsequently ordered to pay his opponent $335,000. Tyson later exclaimed to the room he wanted to ‘eat Lewis’ children’.
There was so much hostility between the pair throughout the build-up that even moments before the fight, a line of security staff had to separate them whilst the referee read out his instructions. Lewis would have the last laugh, knocking out Tyson in brutal fashion in the eighth round.
Lennox Lewis swings a punch after Mike Tyson started a brawl between their teams
After the press conference scrap, Tyson bizarrely said he wanted to ‘eat’ Lewis’ children
Derek Chisora throws a table at Dillian Whyte
There is a fine line between hyping a fight and going against the codes of conduct of the sport. It’s fair to say Derek Chisora crossed it when he threw a table at Dillian Whyte. It was no secret that these two were not the best of friends and a fiery build-up was expected.
Chisora has a knack for attracting controversy, having previously spat, bit and slapped his opponents, so it came as little surprise when his temper got the better of him after Whyte threatened to attack him in the streets if he saw him.
An enraged Chisora, who had now lost interest in making threats, stood up and launched a table in Whyte’s direction. Whyte’s trainer Mark Tibbs threw his microphone in retaliation as tempers boiled over before the press conference was brought to an abrupt end.
Derek Chisora launched a table towards Dillian Whyte ahead of their first fight back in 2016
Chisora and David Haye trade punches
David Haye and Chisora were involved in an ugly clash in Munich in 2012 after the latter’s defeat to Vitali Klitschko. After throwing obscenities at one another during the post-fight press conference, the two heavyweights confronted each other and things quickly got out of hand.
Haye, clutching a glass bottle, launched a punch at Chisoram instantly sparking a mass brawl. After scrapping with Chisora, Haye then attempted to hit his rival’s trainer on the head with a camera tripod. Chisora claimed Haye had ‘glassed’ him and vowed to ‘shoot’ and ‘burn’ the former heavyweight champion after the altercation.
Off the back of their scrap, Chisora and Haye met in the ring under Luxembourg Boxing Federation licenses after the BBBoC (British Boxing Board of Control) revoked theirs. Haye violently knocked out Chisora in the fifth round to win their grudge match.
David Haye punched Derek Chisora whilst clutching a bottle at a presser in Munich in 2012
The two become embroiled in a heated row after Chisora had lost to Vitali Klitschko
Haye’s manager at the time Adam Booth is seen with blood on his face after the altercation
Larry Holmes’ flying kung-fu kick
A parking lot of Hollywood’s Diplomat Hotel was the scene of Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick’s very public scuffle. The two shared unpleasantries after Holmes had defeated Tim Anderson in April of 1991 before things turned physical. ‘If he wants to street fight I’ll break every rib in his body,’ Berbick warned. Their wrestling match in front of reporters ended with something straight out of the Jason Bourne movies as Holmes leaped off the top of a car and drop kicked his rival.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6CZ9b5zREws%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1
Trevor Berbick looks shocked after brawling with Larry Holmes in a hotel parking lot
The pair fought each other 10 years earlier before renewing their rivalry in ugly scenes
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier wrestle on an ABC talk show
The famous feud between the two spilled over on Howard Cosell’s ABC show back in 1974. The two arch-rivals were scheduled to appear with TV host Cosell to watch a replay of their first fight three years earlier.
Frazier, who had been desperate to get out of the appearance, had been mercilessly taunted by Ali days before on the Dick Cavett show and was left angered by Cosell’s failed promise to sit in between them. It wasn’t long before hostilities were renewed with both men trading barbs.
Frazier eventually took exception to Ali calling him ‘ugly and ignorant’. ‘Why you call me ignorant… how am I ignorant?’ asked Frazier, before Ali grabbed him and the pair wrestled on the floor. Both men were fined $5000 each by the New York State Athletic Commission as a result of their conduct.
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier’s famous rivalry boiled over at numerous promotional events
They infamously wrestled with each other whilst filming for Howard Cosell’s ABC talk show
Riddick Bowe lands a brutal two-punch combination on Larry Donald
Riddick Bowe probably landed his best punch on Larry Donald five days before their fight. At a press conference in Los Angeles, Bowe suddenly whacked Donald with a thunderous left-right combination after they had exchanged verbals.
Donald kept his composure and refused to retaliate, describing Bowe’s aggressive attack as ‘unprofessional’ and labelling him ‘afraid’. Bowe offered no apology and said: ‘I heard him talking trash and I told him, “if you say one more thing, I’m going to hit you”. He opened his mouth again, so I popped him.’
Bowe, who also once threw a glass at Jorge Luiz Gonzales at a media event, would not land as clean a punch as that on Donald when they met in the ring, but would claim a lopsided points decision in a 12-round snore-fest.
Riddick Bowe (far right) is seen being held back by his manager after punching Larry Donald
Bowe would go on to beat Donald in a largely uneventful 12-round fight just days later
Bernard Hopkins almost incites a riot
Bernard Hopkins made things personal with Felix Trinidad when he ripped the Puerto Rico flag from his hands and threw it on the ground during a tour to promote their undisputed middleweight title fight. Hopkins insisted he’d do the same again, saying afterwards: ‘This is war, and at war I don’t have respect for Trinidad or his country.’
Unwisely, he stuck to his word and nearly started a riot when he repeated the trick at a stop in Puerto Rico. The Executioner subsequently had to be swiftly ushered away before tensions bubbled over into a violent frenzy. Hopkins would ultimately prevail on fight night, knocking Trinidad out at Madison Square Garden to unify the world titles.
Bernard Hopkins angered the Puerto Rican people by throwing their flag on the ground
Hopkins (R) almost caused a riot at one promotional event in Felix Trinidad’s native Puerto Rico
Floyd Mayweather chokes Victor Ortiz
Before a punch had even been thrown, it was clear there was bad blood and genuine animosity between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz. After the weigh-in, Mayweather got in Ortiz’s face and choked him as they shouted expletives at one another. When they did get in the ring, the rules went out of the window as Ortiz was docked a point for headbutting and Mayweather controversially knocked out his opponent with a cheap shot as they were separated.
The night got even more bizarre when Mayweather lashed out at then 80-year-old commentator Larry Merchant, who had questioned the validity of his knockout. ‘You never give me a fair shake. You are s*** and HBO should fire you. You don’t know s*** about boxing. You ain’t s***,’ Mayweather screamed in response. Merchant hilariously replied: ‘I wish I was 50 years younger and I would kick your ass.’
Floyd Mayweather put his hands around Victor Ortiz’s neck after their weigh-in back in 2011
The boxing superstar got right in Ortiz’s face as tensions threatened to boil over
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