Dereck Chisora: "Boxing needs me"

Heavyweight fighter Dereck Chisora has insisted that boxing needs personalities like him to keep the sport from stagnating.

The 29-year-old, who was recently granted a new boxing license after a year-long ban, believes that his bad boy image helps draw in the punters.

"Boxing is dead and you need people like me to bring it back up," he told BBC Sport.

"Someone has to take the bad role and as long as people are tuning in and watching the sport that I love, I don't mind."

The British Boxing Board of Control stripped Chisora of his license last year after he brawled with fellow Briton David Haye during a news conference.

Chisora will return to the ring next month when he takes on Ondrej Pala. He is also targeting a showdown with Liverpudlian scrapper David Price.