'Sometimes tears come out, you have to be an animal'

Whether you want him to or not, 40-year-old heavyweight Derek Chisora isn’t ready to stop yet

-  Alex Pattle

Derek Chisora widens his eyes, raises his brow to the brim of his beanie hat, and stretches out his tongue – flicking it at his laptop camera repeatedly. It’s quite the sight. The heavyweight veteran is testing the wifi speed after a couple of issues, and once they’ve been navigated, he soundtracks the moment with a melodic, “The shooow muuust gooo ooon.” It’s quite the sound.

Chisora is speaking to The Independent just moments before the announcement of his next fight, against Otto Wallin in February. It will be the 49th bout of his 18-year professional career, and it is billed as “The Last Dance”. Chisora aims to hit 50 fights as a pro, with one more in the UK and one abroad. Still, he seems allergic to retirement, whatever you might think of that reality.

“I’ve never cared what people think about me,” Chisora says. “They can say whatever they want. It’s human nature to talk about other people and criticise them; even when you do an amazing thing, there’s always someone criticising you. ‘You should retire, you should do this.’ When I retire, what? I’ll leave this sport when I want to.”