‘Crazy’ Fury starts battle of the banter
TYSON FURY was in playful mood, setting the tone for some mischief-making between himself and Deontay Wilder in the last days before their heavyweight worlds collide on Saturday night. Fury went into a laughing description of the extreme violence he claims he will inflict on Wilder, using language which was weird, colourful and outrageous. Nor could a lot of it be printed in a family newspaper. ‘We’re going to have some fun and games at the press conferences and the weigh-in,’ said Fury. Let the mind games begin in earnest. Fury knows that Wilder thinks he’s crazy. He says ‘nothing frightens me’, but knows that no boxer is happy going into the ring with an opponent who is unhinged. Fury is still left to worry about the fabled power of Wilder, with 41 knockouts in his unbeaten 43-fight career. Wilder also knocked down his two other opponents, including Fury, twice, in their epic draw 14 months ago. But Fury said: ‘No problem. He couldn’t keep me down. People go on about him being the biggest puncher in history but it’s about who you’ve fought. ‘Deontay’s fought 35 bums. Duck-egg dummies brought in to pad his record. He’s only had seven or so real fights. ‘The two KOs he’s had since our first fight were that big idiot Dominic Breazeale (above), who walked on to a big shot in the first round, and Luis Ortiz who is so old that my nine-year-old son could knock him out. ‘The only really good man he’s faced is me, and I was just coming back from three years out, weak as a robin and with coat-hangers for shoulders. If he couldn’t beat me then, he sure can’t beat me now. ‘Deontay’s punches will bounce off me because I’m bulletproof. If I cannot beat Deontay Wilder, then I’m no good. I will not go down as a great or a champion. I would just go back to Morecambe and never sniff boxing again.’ Fury denied that Wilder was his hardest fight. ‘Actually, the two knockdowns apart, it was my easiest,’ said Fury. ‘Deontay is a very limited boxer, albeit one with a big punch, but not as hard a hitter as Wladimir Klitschko and he couldn’t knock me over or out. ‘What I saw 14 months ago was exactly the Wilder I expected and he will be the same again. The difference is I’m stronger and fitter and still younger. At 34 he ain’t going to get any better.’ Then it was back to the banter before the battle between two undefeated giants.