Dereck Chisora insists he can't be a bad boy - because old ladies love him.
The 28-year-old boxer has earned himself a negative reputation because of his wild behaviour - which has included slapping Vitali Klitschko at the weigh-in before their world title bout, spitting water in Vitali's brother Wladimir's face before the fight and brawling with David Haye at the post-fight press conference in Germany.
Despite his public persona, Chisora - who had his license withdrawn by the British Boxing Board of Control in March following his behaviour before and after the fight with Vitali - claims he has reignited the British public's interest in boxing and elderly women in particular are fond of him.
He exclusively told BANG Showbiz: ''You know what's amazing is when you get an old lady who is 80 and the last fight she watched was Muhammad Ali and then she sits down and watches Dereck Chisora versus Vitali Klitschko it's amazing. My friend's grandmother is 80-something years old and she doesn't watch boxing but she watched boxing for the first time when she watched me fight. If I can attract old ladies who are retired and old guys who are retired to watch boxing again, I'm happy.
''I'm not a bad boy man. I'm a man of the people, I would say I'm the people's champ, but I'm not a champ. You know, things just happen, some people paint me with a bad brush and other people paint me with a nice brush. I can't really help it, can I?''
Instead of being a bad boy, Chisora says he has more in common with his namesake Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter.
The fighter's in-ring nickname is 'Del Boy' and he walks down to his bouts to the 'Only Fools and Horses' theme song and he insists he is really a loveable rogue like the comedic character.
Before he turned pro Chisora would sell anything he could get his hands on to make a living like the Peckham wheeler-dealer.
He revealed: ''(The idea to use the theme song) originally came up one night when I was in a restaurant with my trainer and some friends. The whole thing came from before I turned pro because I sold cars, I sold jewellery, I would sell anything, I'm a bit of Del Boy by nature as well as by nickname.''
Chisora steps in the ring with Haye at West Ham's Upton Park on Saturday night (14.07.12) and the fight can be watched live on BoxNation (Sky channel 456 and Virgin channel 546).
Subscription information is available at www.boxnation.com.
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