ZAK CHELLI has tried to tone down his furiously dedicated dad but knows his old man has been the key to his success.
In January – when the 26-year-old super-middleweight grabbed the British and Commonwealth titles – his post-fight interview was hijacked by former fighter Zakaria and left fans slaughtering the attention grab.
Chelli Sr had been the focus of a few viral boxing videos over the years, raving about his son’s promise and rowing with his rivals.
But the second-generation slugger has appointed a new coach in Barry O’Connell and left dad the easier roles of being his inspiration and No1 fan.
When SunSport touched on the tricky topic ahead of Saturday’s defence against Callum Simpson, Chelli said: “I wouldn’t be where I am without my dad and how he is.
“When I first started I was an unknown, the big promoters weren’t really interested.
“But my dad trained me at the beginning, he got me sparring with superstars like George Groves, James DeGale and Chris Eubank Jr.
“And when I started winning my own fights on TV people would see him remember us.
“Some people might not like everything about it.
“But it’s genuinely true that I would not have reached this point and got these titles with my dad.
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“Now that I am British champion and headlining on Sky Sports, I don’t really need his help with publicity or promoting me, which has calmed him down a bit.”
Fulham-based QPR fan Chelli – a former sub teacher – is travelling up to Simpson’s Barnsley backyard to fight at the football club’s Oakwell stadium.
And he dreams of dragging a show back to the Rs’ Loftus Road home which has not hosted big time boxing since Barry McGuigan’s legendary 1985 world title win over Eusebio Pedroza.
He explained: “Boxxer and Sky Sports have taken recent fights to Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and now Barnsley… so why not QPR?
“Loftus Road is a brilliant stadium, it creates a great atmosphere, it’s a working-class area that loves boxing and there are lots of great gyms around.
“I am taking 150 fans up there, he’ll have around 7,000 but when I get the victory I will be pushing for a show at the Loft, with a load of local West London talent to build a legacy of my own.”
