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Dereck Chisora believes Vitali Klitschko is trying to upset his rhythm ahead of their heavyweight showdown on Saturday - by having the Londoner's ring-walk tune banned.
Chisora, 28, had planned to make his entrance to the Only Fools and Horses theme song at Munich's Olympiahalle.
But the German promoters were far from amused by his song choice and insist 'Del Boy' must choose something more recognisable.
Clearing the path to glory: Dereck Chisora plays in the snow ahead of his world title fight in Munich
Chisora, who arrived at a press conference in London earlier this year in a Robin Reliant from the hit show, told The Sun: '(They have) No sense of humour, obviously.
'I could not believe the Klitschkos KO’d my music. I mean, next to the national anthem, it's the most recognisable theme tune in the world!
'They didn't know what it was at first but then listened to it and came back saying it was childish and silly - which is an insult to one of the best TV comedy shows of all time.
'They want me to come into the ring with some Euro rock trash like Europe's The Final Countdown. But I can't come out to that - everyone knows me as Del Boy.
'I'm beginning to think they're just a load of plonkers, as Del would say.
'But I genuinely feel it's the Klitschkos trying to upset my rhythm because they have finally realised what I am capable of.'
Chisora claims he will knock Klitschko out in the eighth round but he faces a daunting challenge against the Ukrainian who has lost only twice in his career, and not since 2003 when he tasted defeat against Britain's Lennox Lewis.
And Frank Warren, Chisora's promoter, acknowledges that his charge will have to cause one of the greatest upsets of all time to take home the WBC belt.
'Everything is against Dereck,' he admitted. 'Unfortunately, we’re on the pauper’s side of the fence in negotiations and, as Vitali is obliging us with a voluntary defence, we’ve had to agree to a lot of things that we’d not have accepted had we been in a mandatory position. But Dereck is adamant that he wants the big fights and we can’t deliver any bigger than this.
‘I know Dereck has been predicting an eighth round knockout but that’s a very big call. Both Klitschkos are phenomenal fighters, easily the best of their generation, and it’s a big ask to expect to receive a decision against them in Germany. I just hope the judges won’t be fazed as they were in Finland (where Chisora dropped a hugely contentious decision to local hope Robert Helenius in his last gig in early December). The public aren’t stupid. They know who’s won the fight so why cheat them?
‘What I do know is that Dereck goes into this fight 100 per cent both physically and mentally. In the shape he’s in, I guarantee he’d have taken care of the majority of the fighters who’ve taken Vitali into the later rounds previously.
‘Vitali’s knocking on and I suspect he isn’t comfortable with a lot of speed and movement. If Dereck is able to emulate the workrate and desire that he showed against Robert Helenius, and can maintain the confidence to constantly apply pressure, he’ll give Vitali a lot to think about. I’ll certainly be having a good wager on him.’
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Chisora turned down a £70,000 offer from a sponsor who wanted to put their logo on the bottom of his boots.
Clearly, they were confident the Brit would spend enough time on the canvas to make the investment worthwhile, but Chisora turned his nose up at the money.
'I’m not here to make up the numbers and no one was going to put their logo on the soles of my boots,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'Doing that would have been like a white flag of surrender even before I stepped into the ring.
'Why would I want anyone to advertise on the soles of my boots? The only time you’ll see the soles of my feet is when I’m dead. Or maybe running for a bus but believe me, I won’t be running on Saturday night.
Chisora, 28, had planned to make his entrance to the Only Fools and Horses theme song at Munich's Olympiahalle.
But the German promoters were far from amused by his song choice and insist 'Del Boy' must choose something more recognisable.
Clearing the path to glory: Dereck Chisora plays in the snow ahead of his world title fight in Munich
Chisora, who arrived at a press conference in London earlier this year in a Robin Reliant from the hit show, told The Sun: '(They have) No sense of humour, obviously.
'I could not believe the Klitschkos KO’d my music. I mean, next to the national anthem, it's the most recognisable theme tune in the world!
'They didn't know what it was at first but then listened to it and came back saying it was childish and silly - which is an insult to one of the best TV comedy shows of all time.
'They want me to come into the ring with some Euro rock trash like Europe's The Final Countdown. But I can't come out to that - everyone knows me as Del Boy.
'I'm beginning to think they're just a load of plonkers, as Del would say.
'But I genuinely feel it's the Klitschkos trying to upset my rhythm because they have finally realised what I am capable of.'
Chisora claims he will knock Klitschko out in the eighth round but he faces a daunting challenge against the Ukrainian who has lost only twice in his career, and not since 2003 when he tasted defeat against Britain's Lennox Lewis.
And Frank Warren, Chisora's promoter, acknowledges that his charge will have to cause one of the greatest upsets of all time to take home the WBC belt.
'Everything is against Dereck,' he admitted. 'Unfortunately, we’re on the pauper’s side of the fence in negotiations and, as Vitali is obliging us with a voluntary defence, we’ve had to agree to a lot of things that we’d not have accepted had we been in a mandatory position. But Dereck is adamant that he wants the big fights and we can’t deliver any bigger than this.
‘I know Dereck has been predicting an eighth round knockout but that’s a very big call. Both Klitschkos are phenomenal fighters, easily the best of their generation, and it’s a big ask to expect to receive a decision against them in Germany. I just hope the judges won’t be fazed as they were in Finland (where Chisora dropped a hugely contentious decision to local hope Robert Helenius in his last gig in early December). The public aren’t stupid. They know who’s won the fight so why cheat them?
‘What I do know is that Dereck goes into this fight 100 per cent both physically and mentally. In the shape he’s in, I guarantee he’d have taken care of the majority of the fighters who’ve taken Vitali into the later rounds previously.
‘Vitali’s knocking on and I suspect he isn’t comfortable with a lot of speed and movement. If Dereck is able to emulate the workrate and desire that he showed against Robert Helenius, and can maintain the confidence to constantly apply pressure, he’ll give Vitali a lot to think about. I’ll certainly be having a good wager on him.’
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Chisora turned down a £70,000 offer from a sponsor who wanted to put their logo on the bottom of his boots.
Clearly, they were confident the Brit would spend enough time on the canvas to make the investment worthwhile, but Chisora turned his nose up at the money.
'I’m not here to make up the numbers and no one was going to put their logo on the soles of my boots,' he told the Daily Telegraph. 'Doing that would have been like a white flag of surrender even before I stepped into the ring.
'Why would I want anyone to advertise on the soles of my boots? The only time you’ll see the soles of my feet is when I’m dead. Or maybe running for a bus but believe me, I won’t be running on Saturday night.
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