17,000 sales prove it’s the biggest fight ever

British boxing chiefs condemn Haye- Chisora fight

A swish London hotel hosted a meeting that lasted no more than 20 minutes.

In the Art Deco Polo Bar at Mayfair’s Westbury Hotel, Frank Warren shook hands with David Haye’s manager Adam Booth, paid and walked back to his chauffeur-driven Bentley with a spring in his step.

In those 20 minutes, Warren — Dereck Chisora’s manager — had struck one of the easiest deals of his career with both camps determined to stage The Sun-sponsored fight at Upton Park on July 14.

David Haye and Dereck Chisora set for London ‘grudge match’

As the hotel’s crystal decorations twinkled in the mid-morning light, Warren knew the bout was heading for blockbuster status.

Proof of how much fans want to witness a genuine grudge match has come in ticket sales — with a staggering 17,000 sold on Tuesday’s release day.

Warren said: “A very influential person in the media world called me one day and asked when I was going to stage the fight everyone wanted to see.

“At the time, I just laughed it off. Then a fortnight or so ago, everything changed so suddenly when Chisora’s appeal to box again was delayed.

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“I called Adam and asked to meet him. We’d spoken on the phone but I’m a firm believer anything can be worked out face to face, although I didn’t expect it would be so easy. The reason why? Both fighters wanted it to happen.

“There were no grumblings about purses or cuts, no suspicions about hidden agendas. It was two proper fight people talking straight.”

But there were huge obstacles to overcome — the first being permission to fight.

Chisora had his licence withdrawn by the British Boxing Board of Control for his part in a snarling, spitting bust-up that overshadowed a fine display when he tried to take the WBC heavyweight title from Vitali Klitschko in March.

Haye-Chisora sells 17,000 tickets in one day