Inside Britain’s weirdest bromance: Nigel Farage and Derek Chisora

It was a scene that defied the conventional logic of Westminster and the sweat-stained reality of heavyweight boxing.

On top of a tank rumbling through the narrow arteries of Bethnal Green stood Nigel Farage, the architect of Brexit and current leader of Reform UK, flanking the boxer known as Derek “War” Chisora.

Inside this unlikely alliance, there is deep respect. Farage met Chisora on the boxer’s farm in north London through a mutual friend several years ago and the friendship has grown.

Farage tells Telegraph Sport: “My family were boxing fans, and my first impression of Derek was ‘what you see is what you get’; there’s no pretence. Derek expressed very strong political support for Brexit a long time ago and, this may be his adopted country, but he is very patriotic.”

He adds: “I love it all – the boxing, the cricket, horse racing. I don’t go to football as much anymore. But my family watched boxing growing up, it was big with us in the days of John Conteh, Alan Minter, those guys.”

As the iron beast ground to a halt outside York Hall, the ancestral home of British boxing, the optics were as subtle as a Chisora overhand right.

Farage was waving a Union Flag with the practised vigour of a man who knows his audience, while Chisora was clad in a black suit and his signature flag-patterned balaclava. It looked less like a political pairing and more like a buddy movie that the critics would hate but the public would flock to see.

Farage says: “It was epic. Absolutely amazing. It caused a stir and an awareness, especially over Tower Bridge. Derek always wanted to do that, it was enormous fun and an epic way of arriving.”

‘We both put British people first’

On the surface, they are the ultimate odd couple. One is a privately educated former commodities trader from Kent; the other a Zimbabwean-born brawler who found his salvation in the gloved combat of north London. Yet the “sweet science” has a unique way of stripping back the veneer.

Farage, 62, tells me: “Derek’s a role model in two ways: he’s an immigrant to Britain and has adopted our set of beliefs. He’s a fantastic role model for kids in big cities who are drawn into drugs and petty crime. Derek as a young man could have been dragged into that life and in and out of prison but he turned it around. His faith was important too, and he bettered himself and is a role model to kids and people from the black community.”

Fighters are the modern-day gladiators and Chisora sees a kindred spirit in Farage, a man willing to take the punches, absorb the boos and keep coming forward.

“He’s a strong leader,” Chisora tells me, his voice a low rumble. “Boxing is a dirty business, just like politics. We both put British people first. I met Nigel when I lived on a farm, he loved boxing. I didn’t know what he did at the start, we just hung out. Nigel is a friend.”

From Farage’s perspective, surviving a 12-round war and a general election are not dissimilar exercises. He says: “There are parallels. Politics is rarely physical, although I’ve been attacked probably more than most, which is why I have so much security around me but, like boxing, politics is very psychological and you have to be mentally very tough.

“I’m literally now the veteran and people come and go. Margaret Thatcher went on and on, Tony Blair came and went, and it is about preparation and training and strategy.”

As Chisora, the warhorse of the heavyweight division, heads into his 50th and final fight on Saturday night against Deontay Wilder at the O2 Arena, Farage also draws parallels with the upcoming local elections.

“On May 7 we have a massive set of elections and we have to plan ahead and be ‘match fit’, but in a different way to Derek. Derek had a political interest in the countryside and farming, but after that the reason we get along is that he is irreverent like me and a bloody good laugh. We have certainly had some shocked looks when people see us together.”

‘I don’t call it racism, I call it politics’

Chisora’s final fight is a daunting one against the “Bronze Bomber”, the former world champion whose right hand has fearsomely explosive power. It is a terrifying assignment for a 42-year-old veteran, yet Chisora is approaching it with the same defiant nonchalance that has defined his 19-year career.

Chisora has publicly defended Reform and Farage against allegations of racism, saying: “I don’t call it racism, I call it politics.”

For Farage, does having a prominent black British athlete by his side change the way he approaches the immigration debate? “People are surprised by the friendship but there is a prejudice out there,” Farage says. “They say Nigel doesn’t like black people but it is not the case and there is a natural prejudice against me. Derek is an example of what immigration should be, a clear example of that.”

Farage recalls one of his strongest memories with Chisora: a party in Parliament Square on the night Britain left the European Union. “It was January 31, 2020, and we’d organised a party for 100,000 people in Parliament Square and everyone was cheering, singing and celebrating. Big Ben bonged, we had just left the EU and there was Derek Chisora in a Union Jack suit doing star jumps on the stage.”

Chisora: ‘We would win World Cup if I was sports minister’

Whether you agree with their politics or their personas, there is an undeniable honesty to their bond. Farage appeals to the disenfranchised voter, while Chisora is a favourite of blood-hungry fight fans.

As they share a laugh outside York Hall, Farage jokes about appointing Chisora to his frontbench team. “Horses for courses,” he chirps. Chisora roars with laughter, a man at peace with his impending retirement.

It is a weird relationship, it is volatile, but it is quintessentially British. In boxing, the most unlikely friendships are often the most authentic. There is a genuine rapport and mutual respect between the politician and the fighter.

One ponders whether there will be a place in Reform for Chisora when he hangs up the gloves. Farage says: “Derek could have a role with us as a campaigner, absolutely, when his career is over... and in mentoring. He’s a fantastic bloke for us and a national treasure and an adored person going into his last fight and he is going to be seriously missed by the fans.”

Chisora, meanwhile, flirts with a question about him being minister for sport. “If it was me, we are winning the World Cup, with the current lot we aren’t winning anything. I’d make being a sportsman or doing outside activities important for the kids. Look, I would go into politics but right now I want to push strong candidates into the London Mayor elections.

“I want to support Laila Cunningham, we really need that, because we don’t have any strong candidates against Sadiq Khan. My aim is to push for Laila being the next London Mayor, and the first female mayor.

“The problem is they are trying to divide us, saying there are more Muslims, more this, more that, but we are all human beings. We want people to be able to dress up, go out and have a nice meal, and go home without being robbed, or having their watch or car stolen. The London of 2008.” That was the year Chisora had just turned professional.

Farage will be there on Saturday night watching his ally, a British sporting standout who has transformed from boxing’s bad boy to cult hero. Some story, and some friendship.

Derek Chisora vs Deontay Wilder is live on DAZN on Saturday night.

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