LIKE him or loathe him, former middleweight world boxing champion Chris Eubank is a legend.

The sartorially sharp star is as famous for his huge truck, tweed breeches and philosophical outpourings as he is for packing the punches.

He brings his unique charm to the Fairfield Halls, in Croydon, on June 25, to give audiences the chance to explore the myth behind the man.

Eubank, 37, had a tough start in life. He was suspended from school 18 times in one year, expelled, then moved only to be suspended five times in four weeks and expelled again.

Eventually Eubank was put into care and bundled around children's homes across the capital before spending a year-and-a-half homeless on London's streets.

At the age of 16 his father took him to New York where he took up boxing and the rest, as they say, is history.

Dulwich-born Eubank has not entered the ring professionally for four years. More recently he has maintained his celebrity profile with shows such as At Home with the Eubanks.

When I telephoned him he was preparing for the first night of his UK tour and was arguing quite aggressively with his manager and the show's compere ...

- You are doing An Evening With Chris Eubank. What can we expect from the show?

It is not a conditioned show. Let me tell you this, it is not for the faint-hearted. It is all about truth, the truth of the warrior, a fighter who lost his finishing instinct after he fought Michael Watson in 1991. It is not scripted. It is the life of a person who hasn't really been in the light entertainment business, although he has been in the entertainment business. Speaking and telling jokes is one form but fighting is another.

- Are you nervous about tonight? Do you ever get nervous?

Nervous is the wrong word. I have been nervous many times because it is a part of life. If you are not nervous you won't perform well. I hope before the curtain goes up I am shaking like a leaf!

- Sometimes people can be quick to ridicule you. Are you worried how the audience will respond to you as you tour the UK with this show?

Oh no. People only ridicule me when they get a particular story from a journalist which has been conditioned and which has been taken out of context. What happens then is ridicule. The articles are written that way so they can sell newspapers and fill column inches. Ridicule is the last thing you should say of an individual like myself. It is the last thing you should say about an individual who fought scientifically and won because he used science in terms of his art form.

- Were you happy with the way you came across in your recent TV show? What would you say to some people who got the impression you were a misogynist because of the division of labour between you and your wife?

I came across as me. When you go on camera, if you are putting on a facade you become yourself after just two hours. They were with me for nine months. I had no control over the programme. I have constantly pushed over the years the most important thing is the children's health. That's number one. The second most important thing is mother because the head of the family isn't the man. That is a myth. Without the woman it all scatters. I adore my wife. In terms of men who put their hands physically on their woman, they are poor excuses. They shame me as a male.

- Boxing promoter Frank Maloney recently ran in the London mayoral race. Do you think boxing and politics mix and would you ever get involved yourself?

If they followed the rules of the warrior then we would have a good Prime Minister and a good president. I would call myself an activist. People like me get hurt because I don't do things in half measures or liberally. I am a radical so it wouldn't be a good thing for me to get involved in party politics."

- If you were Prime Minister, though, what policies would you introduce?

The first thing I would do is pull our troops out of Iraq and persuade George W. Bush you can't fight terror. By fighting it, you create it. The only way you can stop it is by changing foreign policy. I am a pacifist, of course. If they were true warriors they would be ensuring peace. I told Tony Blair straight to his face, I looked him in the eye at the Pride of Britain Awards and I said, I can't speak to you politically or academically but I can speak to you philosophically. You do understand the only thing credible about George Bush was you'. He looked at me with a cool, dead stare and didn't say a word. I said, You got us into this problem, you get us out!' Still nothing.

- You are a well-read, philosophical man. What are you reading at the moment?

Philosophical, me? No, it is all common sense. I am interested in activists, people who do the right thing.

- Is there anyone you find inspirational at the moment?

Mandela. I have met him. He was like all great men. He thinks he is just an ordinary guy whereas the ordinary guys think they are great.

(Eubank then recites Nelson Mandela's inaugural speech from memory.)

It is not hard if you pay attention to things which inspire you. I have got about four hours of poems in my head and I don't know what they are until someone brings up a subject.

- Do you ever write your own poetry?

No. There have been better minds which have come before me. But saying that I'm beginning to think I do have a kind of artistic license all of my own and perhaps I should be exploring that.

(At this point Eubank recites Rudyard Kipling's complex poem The Female of the Species at double-time and word perfect.)

Despite my initial trepidation, Eubank turned out to be a charming, articulate and interesting man and an evening with him is sure to be lively.

- An Evening with Chris Eubank, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, June 24, 7.45pm, £15.50-£14.50, 020 8688 9291.