Derek Chisora behind the scenes – from blasting music to ranting and raving

One minute Derek Chisora is walking the hotel hallways blasting music from his stereo, the next he is ranting and raving and then later he's a picture of calm wandering around the restaurant in a bathrobe.

Life in the bubble with the heavyweight veteran is never boring.

Chisora has had his moments this week when the laughs and smiles suddenly switch to darkness in the Covid-secure bubble ahead of his fight with Joseph Parker.

He has been angry he can't get out for a walk and frustrated he can't be with his children.

At Friday's weigh-in, he threatened to pull out over a row about who walks to the ring second and the row rumbled on into the night.

He is a Jekyll and Hyde character who has also had a career in the ring which has had more ups and downs than he has had mood swings.

Now he faces Parker in a heavyweight duel that, at 37 and with 10 defeats, should be a last hurrah for someone like Chisora.

But the Londoner doesn't conform to the norm as he heads into the fight with a new trainer in ring legend Buddy McGirt.

He said: “What gets me out of bed, what gets me into my smart car to drive down the gym at 4 in the morning to train?

“Because I want to enjoy it right now as I'm here.

“Why people retire is because they don't enjoy it.

“Not because they can't box but because they didn't enjoy it. I enjoy it. I enjoy coming out fighting, entertaining people and giving people something to talk about.

“Why should I retire? This is the biggest downfall we have as British people.

“We don't encourage those who keep failing, we just say, 'Oh you should just retire'.

“It's only when he's gone you think, 'oh snap, he's gone, who is going to fill that massive gap he left'. Why should you retire?”

Chisora has challenged for a world title against Vitali Klitschko, he has been in huge fights with David Haye and Tyson Fury, and he has been a British and Commonwealth champion.

Once known as Del Boy, now simply as 'War', he has had his run ins with the British Boxing Board of Control, too.

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  • Tables have been chucked, punches let go, expletives thrown and more. While he has delivered performances on occasion so poor you never expect to see him again in the ring.

    But he has come back time and time again, and one thing you could never say about the Zimbabwe-born bruiser is that he shirks challenges.

    He said: “How do I define my legacy? Ready to rock on roll and fight anybody.

    “Do you think Joseph Parker could have fought everyone I've boxed?

    “He would try to duck and dive, avoid it and stuff like that.

    “I don't want to do that. Because I enjoy it, I like it. I want to say when it's done and dusted I fought everyone when I had to.”

    Parker is the latest challenge, the former WBO heavyweight champion from New Zealand who is looking to reignite his career by beating Chisora at Manchester Arena.

    There have been questions as to how Chisora, who lost to Oleksandr Usyk in October, is back on pay-per-view headlining again and why, six years on from being dismantled by Fury, he deserves this platform.

    But he battled to get the spotlight on him and it has come at the tail end of his career so, as the cameras follow his every move in the hotel this week, he has been in his element.

    “Now I'm happy,” he added. “I'm happy I'm on Sky and I do what I do. I do what I do to entertain the fans.”

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