LONDON: Boxer Dereck Chisora was arrested Sunday after an ugly brawl with fellow British heavyweight David Haye following a WBC title clash in Munich on the previous night.

Saturday’s incident, which left Haye’s manager Adam Booth with nasty facial cuts, erupted during a news conference after Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko had retained his WBC heavyweight belt with a unanimous points decision over Chisora.

Haye attended the fight as a television pundit.

A police spokesman Gottfried Schlicht said Chisora had been arrested and questioned shortly before he had been due to depart from the airport.

“The police are pressing charges against Chisora for bodily injury but that is not a reason for him to stay in prison,” Schlicht said about half an hour after the boxer had been released from custody. Police did not know Haye’s whereabouts. British media reports said Chisora had threatened to “shoot and burn” Haye.

Haye, beaten in July by Vitali’s younger brother Vladimir in Hamburg, retired in October, but was offered a way back with a fight against the senior Klitschko this year.

Haye became agitated by comments made by Klitschko’s manager, Bernd Boente, that he would no longer get a fight with the older sibling.

“Contrary to David Haye, Dereck Chisora really went for it and really tried,” Boente told a news conference.

“You don’t want to fight David Haye, no?” replied Haye, who was at the back of the conference room.

Boente then said: “You had an offer, you didn’t accept it, now you are out. You are out. Out, out, out. You cannot talk yourself back into the fight, you have no belts. Chisora showed heart, contrary to you. You showed your toe.”

Haye had blamed July’s world title defeat on a broken toe.

After the argument with Boente, Haye got into an altercation with Chisora which resulted in the pair trading punches.

The incident was the latest controversy to surround Saturday’s fight. Chisora slapped his rival at the weigh-in Friday and spat water into Vladimir’s face during the pre-fight ceremonies.

“I’m totally disappointed, it went a little too far, the sport of boxing shouldn’t be like that,” Klitschko told the BBC after watching the fight between the two British boxers.

“Bloody faces in the press conference ... I’m really surprised.”