IT was a strange feeling to walk out of a Cardiff hotel, reach instantly for my mobile and call the sports editor with the news that the police had been called because of a near brawl at a press conference.

Giving an eye-witness account, assessing how the story would be covered in the following day’s paper, trying to explain just how it had transpired that South Wales’ constabulary had been needed on an occasion that was supposed to be about promoting a fight was a surreal experience.

That was after Tony Bellew and Nathan Cleverly’s ill-fated press event a couple of months back, but my word, that was nothing compared to the press conference on Saturday night when David Haye, and especially Dereck Chisora, disgraced themselves.

Themselves. That’s my key word in this column. The pair of British fighters should feel ashamed, embarrassed and humble at the disgrace they’ve heaped onto themselves, but that’s where it ends. This is not a disgrace for the sport or for the United Kingdom.

For starters, a brawl at a boxing press conference is about as long in the tooth as a list of England’s excuses for failures at major tournaments. It’s nothing new.

Even the usually ice cool Cleverly camp were drawn into scenes of chaos recently and boxers like Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Herbie Hide and Errol Christie have all been there.

In case you’ve been living under a rock and missed it, the facts are these.

David Haye, having worked as a pundit for BoxNation TV during Dereck Chisora’s fight with Vital Klitschko, attended the press conference along with trainer Adam Booth who did a similar summary role for the BBC.

Neither of them had any reason to be there other than an expected fight with a Klitschko, thought to be Vitali, further down the line.

In other words, they were there because it was good business. Haye claims Vitali is trying to duck a fight with him so he went and heckled both him and his manager Bernd Boente who took the bait hook, line and sinker.

This was no more than a routine slanging match used to sell a future fight, for example Bernard Hopkins’ “I will never lose to a white guy,” rant at Joe Calzaghe.

Then things became murkier still.

Dereck Chisora, who (and this will be forgotten) had just fought the fight of his life, took umbrage with Haye’s presence and trash talked until leaving his seat to confront him. A brawl erupted, Haye struck the first blow and then used a TV tripod and inadvertently cut his own trainer Adam Booth.

Chisora’s demeanour was that of a man out of control and in front of a few million online viewers he threatened to shoot Haye. This on the back of the weigh-in slap on Vitali and spitting water in Wladimir Klitschko’s face. Chisora’s actions were indefensible and his words ridiculous. So what now? We can first of all dismiss all talk of it being pre-meditated in an effort to establish a fight between the pair down the line. Not a chance.

Firstly, and this is the key point, there will be heavy sanctions for Chisora and Haye, if he decides he wants to continue his career. They may have escaped police censure but not so from their governing bodies. Chisora was destined for a fine for his pre-fight slap on opponent Vitali Klitschko but now the British Boxing Board of Control could throw the book at him. It’s simple. Chisora is going to be banned from the ring, quite probably for a year or more.

Haye can’t be banned, because his faux-retirement means he doesn’t have a licence. Nor will he be able to get one anytime soon. His dreams of fighting Vitali Klitschko in the short term have evaporated, but I don’t think he ever had any designs on fighting Chisora. And Frank Warren, Chisora’s promoter, has already said categorically he wouldn’t promote that fight.

The second more reasoned and predictable response has been outrage. That’s the most British of traits and I share the sense of disgust. But I also feel for all the boxers who have registered their upset at the condemnation of the sport as a whole and of British fighters. This doesn’t reflect on them and that distinction must be made.

Others must also register their culpability. We’ve all seen it. How on earth was no security in place when the brawl began? I’ve been to dozens of huge press conferences in the UK and they’ve always been well staffed with a big security presence. It should never have got as far as it did without several big burly men stepping in.

It seems certain the incident will overshadow both Haye and Chisora’s achievements in the sport and will hurt both their future plans. Chisora could be banned for life and Haye certainly has no prospect of a 2012 fight with either Klitschko. That is a shame, but well deserved under the circumstances.

The Klitschkos to me remain an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

I’ve lost count of the times I read this weekend what wonderful role-models they are. That is only partially true. As people, as businessmen, they are wonderful ambassadors. Both come across as terrifically nice guys and they’ve engineered a monopoly of the heavyweight division through talent and determination.

On the other hand, they are the biggest politicians in the sport. They don’t tend to ever fight outside of Germany, they don’t take risks in the ring or ever worry about the entertainment factor of their fights and both prefer lavish ring entrances at great cost as opposed to ensuring strong undercards for their fans to enjoy.

In the heavyweight division they hold all the power. As boxers they are completely unappealing to this viewer.

Great guys yes, but boring fighters with far too much political clout.

The sad truth is that Haye, on the evidence of Chisora’s showing, would have been licking his lips for a fight with Vitali, and for boxing fans, Haye was the best fight out there. Now both Klitschkos will be able to continue making easy defences in Germany and it is the viewing public who lose out.

Actions have consequences and that is why Haye and Chisora are both rightly going to find themselves out in the cold in disgrace. But their actions don’t represent boxing and they don’t represent the UK. We really must remember that.

It’s a big shame that the antics in Munich will overshadow a huge fight week for Cefn Fforest fighter Nathan Cleverly who defends his WBO world light-heavyweight title in Cardiff this week. Cleverly is a poster boy for not just British boxing but British sport, and his presence in the public conscience comes at exactly the right time to retain some perspective.

Scenes like Saturday are easy to get hysterical over, but the only losers on the night were David Haye and Dereck Chisora.

They don’t represent British boxing and now neither will get a chance to do so for a long time.