Tyson Fury tapes it shut
Tyson Fury taped up his mouth and refused to say a word at a press conference for his rescheduled heavyweight fight against Dereck Chisora.
The 26-year-old Wilmslow man was hit with a £15,000 fine from the British Boxing Board of Control after directing a foul-mouthed rant at Chisora and journalists in June. He refused to risk further sanction, wearing tape with 'BBB of C' and question marks written across it during another media gathering for the return bout on November 29 at London’s ExCel Arena. Fury won the first fight on points in 2011, but the second showdown had to be postponed after Chisora suffered a hand injury, just a few days before the original date in July.
Promoter Mick Hennessy, speaking on Fury's behalf, said: "At the end of the day you need characters to be able to be themselves whatever they're confronted with. "Sometimes you're going to get a gentleman with Tyson and sometimes, if he's rubbed up the wrong way, you'll get another side of him. "At the end of the day surely he should be allowed to be himself. We could be in jeopardy of this fight not happening – we all want the fight to happen so that's what this is about."
Fury used hand gestures to communicate that he plans to keep the tape on for all his interviews and expects a first-round knockout win. But Chisora shrugged off the latest bizarre incident in his opponent’s controversial career and remains confident he will level the score in explosive fashion.
"This is a fight game," said the former world title challenger. "When you're in the gym and it comes to the crunch time your focus is not to go in the ring and be a chess player, you're looking to kill the guy on the other side. "He wants to take something that's yours, it's boxing, it's one of those sports. "I don't blame him (for the tape). He can keep the tape on for all the interviews but I think we could make a wager that he won't keep it on for the next eight weeks." Asked to predict an outcome, Chisora replied: "I'm going to knock him out, it's a simple fact, I don't know what round but I'm going to knock him out."