DEREK CHISORA rolled into Deontay Wilder fight week riding shotgun on a TANK.
The 42-year-old hulk piloted the British military monster from Tower Bridge to Bethnal Green’s York Hall alongside Nigel Farage.
SunSport grabbed a Limebike to cruise alongside the boxing cult hero.
And as the 18st brawler tried to squeeze out of his ride and down to the street, he laughed: “It’s easy getting in this thing but a f***** getting out.”
And moments after exiting the titanic wheels, a police car pulled up and a couple of coppers pretended to arrest him.
In typical showman style, the reformed bad boy laughed and joked with the bobbies and even posed for photos.
Then he went on to say he is happy for history to judge him the same way it did Muhammad Ali.
After 20 years of giving British boxing fans his blood and brain cells, in thrilling fights against this generation’s best, the heavyweight is a cult hero.
In a disappointing era of certain fighters ducking opponents, mega-bouts falling through or heroes maximizing their earning potential by only fighting a couple of times a year, Del Boy has done his business in a far more fan-friendly style.
But he has also been a divisive figure who just this week proudly posted a video of himself mixing with misogynistic YouTuber Andrew Tate.
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And the Zimbabwe-born hulk rolled into Thursday night’s press conference at York Hall in a tank, flanked by anti-immigration Brexiteer Farage.
Whether he really backs the Reform Party – or just likes courting controversy as much as he loves fighting – is up for debate.
But he knows enough about the complex story behind Ali’s rise, fall, and iconic resurgence to know his legacy beyond 50 professional fights is still not set in stone.
When SunSport asked him how he will be remembered – after Saturday’s Deontay Wilder shootout – he said: “However people WANT to remember me.
“I can’t tell people how to remember me.
“I don’t know how people will remember me but Muhammad Ali said it right with his poem about a-spoonful-of-this-and-half-a-cup-of-that.
“That was amazing.
“And people still remember Muhammad Ali, the way they WANT to.
“If you look back, Ali was a bad guy. But he made it so beautiful with poetry that people forgot he was a bad guy.
“He called Joe Frazier a gorilla, that was racist. But he said it so poetically that he got away with it.”
Chisora has a point, Ali’s language toward Sonny Liston, Frazier, and George Foreman was horrible at times.
And during his time under the influence of the Nation of Islam, Ali’s opinions on racial segregation were backward.
But his courage in the civil rights movement, his stance against the Vietnam War, his sheer magnificence inside the ring and the way he courageously battled Parkinson’s until the very end, cemented him as The Greatest.
Chisora is not arrogant enough to put himself in that bracket.
But he hopes people can look past some of his strange stunts and dubious celebrity friends and see a decent fella who just missed out on a world title.
He said: “I’m a nice guy. I am not anything else. I am just a nice guy.
“I think my world title can be more like the people who were around and saw my fights.
“I didn’t win a world title. But I won the most important; the British and then the Commonwealth and the European.
“But I fell short at the world title.”
Sensing the harsh criticism he just gave himself, he retracts: “I didn’t fall short of a world title, I just didn’t get the right opportunities.”
Chisora failed to dethrone Vitali Klitschko of his WBC title in 2012 – when the Londoner was close to his peak.
And he was well past his best when Tyson Fury had the belt a decade later.
In between those two attempts he lost some seriously dubious decisions and, once Finchley ABC protégé and pal Anthony Joshua started collecting straps in 2016, he was never going to fight his little bro.
Now he is hanging up the gloves, there is a chance he could follow 2012 Olympic gold winner Luke Campbell – now the Mayor of Hull – into politics.
He’s even done his research on a shooting that happened in Westminster Palace 214 years ago.
But it sounds like he’s only interested in an even dirtier racket than boxing, if he can have tear-ups with the Tories and throw left hooks at the Lefties.
He said: “I am not involved in politics. I know politicians, it’s good though.
“I did the tour in the House of Commons and it’s serious in there.
“At the backbench now there is lots of space but before, in the old school one, there was no space.
“So they would argue and sometimes they would fight, someone got shot in there once! That’s interesting.
“Imagine someone asking Keir Starmer a question, knowing he was lying and then jumping over to hit him.”
You might not believe it, but having two daughters and giving up alcohol eight years ago mellowed this man.
But the addition of son Zion last year might have brought back the devilish side of dad.
With his trademark mix of X-rated honesty and parental love, he said: “He’s a good boy for now – but he’s only one. He might grow up to be a ****!
“But, right now, he is a good boy.
“I am telling you, sometimes you see these kids as sweet little boys – and the next minute they aren’t.
“If he wants to box, he can box, I cannot deny him, it’s in his blood. I would just tell him to be careful – of everything.”
Chisora vs Wilder – all the info
DEREK CHISORA and Deontay Wilder are set to go head-to-head in a blockbuster heavyweight bout this Saturday.
Both of the boxing legends will step into the ring for the 50th fight of their professional careers, with Del Boy ready to hang up his gloves after reaching the half-century mark.
Chisora previously stated he would retire after his 50th fight, and a huge home clash against one of boxing’s most dangerous punchers is a fitting farewell.
The 42-year-old Londoner heads into the home bout on a three-fight winning streak, including standout victories over Joe Joyce and Otto Wallin.
Meanwhile, Wilder has failed to look at his explosive best since back-to-back defeats to Tyson Fury.
Since then, the Bronze Bomber has secured two underwhelming wins against lower-ranked opponents and suffered further losses to Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang.
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