Wladimir Klitschko has hit out at Tyson Fury over the Briton's controversial remarks about homosexuals and women.
Fury, who beat Ukrainian veteran Klitschko on points last November in Germany to become world heavyweight champion, has provoked outrage by equating homosexuality and abortion with paedophilia and saying a woman’s “best place is on her back’”.
The two fighters meet again in a July 9 rematch at Manchester Arena, with the WBO and WBA belts Fury claimed from Klitschko back on the line.
And at a press conference at the venue on Wednesday, Klitschko said of his revenge mission that he looked forward to there being “a champion that represents the sport in a good way and can be looked up to”.
The 40-year-old then said: “I’m not okay with what comes out of Fury’s mouth, his statements.
“For example — that all homosexual men and women and paedophiles belong in the same place, in jail basically. That all women belong in the kitchen and on their back.
“So that is basically where he sees Elton John and the Queen.
“To all people who say the same and think the same way out there, and to you Fury — I want to say f*** off.”
Fury, 27, responded by drawing attention to the fact that Klitschko had sworn and doing a mocking impersonation of him — before labelling him a “p***y”, then throwing further, foul-mouthed abuse at his opponent.
“He can make all the excuses — ‘I was having a bad day, my fingernail broke,‘” Fury said.
“Who gives a s**t what happened to your fingernails? You got beaten fair and square the first time in Germany. You got whupped.
“You will need to be about 1,000 times better because you landed about four shots in 12 rounds.
“You might be going down as a Hall of Fame fighter, but you are hall of dogs**t fighter in my eyes.
“If the super champion can’t land on a big, fat, lazy gypsy with a loud mouth, what kind of super champion is he? He must be a s**t one.”
The unbeaten Fury (25-0, 18 KOs), who threatened to pull out of the original fight due to issues over gloves and the ring canvas, also on Wednesday made reference to what he saw as “cheating antics” on Klitschko’s part.
And with regard to the rematch, Fury predicted: “I’m going to knock him out inside a round, just to show how s**t he really is.”
Klitschko (64-4, 53 KOs), having admitted he “made a mistake” in November when he suffered his first defeat since 2004, gave his own prediction as he said: “I will knock Tyson Fury out, period.”
A memorable moment from the build-up to the first bout was Fury turning up at a press conference dressed as Batman.
There were further colourful antics on Wednesday from the champion, who was accompanied by a posse of cheerleaders as he arrived and then danced behind the top table.
He later removed his t-shirt to show his bare top half as he taunted Klitschko for losing to a “fat man”.
Fury suggested it was an “absolute disgrace” he be labelled an athlete, and insisted he hates boxing.
“I don’t live a strict lifestyle — I don’t even live an athlete’s lifestyle. It is an absolute disgrace to call me an athlete,” Fury said, before stripping off his shirt and shouting to Klitschko: “Shame on you — you let a fat man beat you!”
The Manchester native added: “Boxing doesn’t mean a lot to me. If it did, I wouldn’t have gone into camp four stone over weight and eaten every pie in Lancashire and drunk every pint of beer in the UK.
“I hate every second of it, and I wish I wasn’t a boxer, but I’m in this position.
“I hate the training, the boxing, speaking to you all you idiots, the whole lot. I’d rather be at home with the kids watching television.
“I hate boxing, but I’m just too f****** good at it and making too much money to stop.
“I’m like a performing monkey. I am really a joke, aren’t I? Every time I play the bad guy, the villain, the outlaw, the outcast. But the majority of people like to see that.”
