Heavyweight star Derek Chisora was seen showing his support for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage ahead of his final fight in the United Kingdom. The 41-year-old will take on Otto Wallin at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester on Saturday night.
Depsite the bout being billed as ‘Last Dance’ by Queensberry Promotions, Chisora is expected to have one fight abroad before he calls time on his career. Ahead of their fight this weekend, the stakes have well and truly been raised after it was announced that the clash is now an official eliminator for the IBF heavyweight title.
This therefore means that the winner will be elevated to the number two position in the IBF rankings – making them the highest-ranked contender with that governing body for the time being.
Despite turning 41 in December, Chisora still remains as confident as ever as he takes part in his 49th boxing fight week. Ahead of the clash on Saturday night, the pair met at a press conference on Thursday afternoon. ‘Del Boy’ showed up to the presser wearing a cowboy hat and dancing along to some country music. On his hat, there was a ribbon for Reform UK as Chisora was quick to give Farage a shout out.
“Shout out to Nigel for the Reform party. Let’s get the United Kingdom back,” he said. The pair have been close for quite some time after ‘Del Boy’ showed his support for Farage’s new Brexit party in 2019. The Zimbabwe-born heavyweight star has previously tweeted his support for Farage. The 60-year-old has previously repaid the favour by showing his support for Chisora during his last fight against Joe Joyce last July- which came just a few weeks after they were seen embracing in a boxing gym in Clacton, Essex.
With a big test in front of him on Saturday night, Chisora is hoping to roll back the years and go out with a bang on home soil. “I’m buzzing for this fight,” he said. “It’s going to be one exciting fight, I can tell you that now. Do not sit down because we’re going to drown this guy. We’re going to go hard. I know for a fact he hasn’t trained the way I expect him to train for me, so I’m excited. I just want to fight.”
“Before I came to Manchester my wife said to me, ‘Just go and enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about anything. Just enjoy yourself,’” Chisora said. “I’ve been trying to enjoy it but at the same time it’s very emotional because I love this game so much. I love the ups and downs of it, the losing, the enjoyment, everything. It’s difficult to leave boxing if you’re not told to leave it. I was told to leave it at 50 fights, so I have to leave it at 50 fights. But if it was up to me, I’d have gone to 100.”