A video of Tyson Fury insulting an interviewer did the rounds on social media this week. Whilst the Heavyweight Champion of the World was smirking slightly as he delivered his final lines, there’s no question that the entire exchange was frosty.
‘The Gypsy King’s foul-mouthed response stemmed from intense questioning about his choice to face Derek Chisora in December. The two men have already shared the ring twice before, with the result similar – Fury a clear victor.
That fact, paired with very public negotiations to fight Anthony Joshua giving fans a taste of what could have been, have left many in the sport underwhelmed with the finalised December 3 bout.
No stranger to tough questions, Hearn took an understanding approach to Fury’s viral reaction. He gave his take to Boxing Social.
“Tyson doesn’t really like being quizzed on things, in all honesty. He’s a fighter, so it’s his job to talk to the media but not like my job to talk to the media where I have to, and I have to do 30 [interviews.]”
“I thought the questions were fine. They weren’t personal, he was just [asking] questions and Tyson lost his rag. Maybe Fury had done like three or four hours of interviews and just thought ‘f**k me I can’t be a**ed to talk to this bloke’ – which is fine. It just looks like a weakness, and people see it as a weakness, but he’s just a human being. Sometimes you have bad days, sometimes you get pissed off.”
Whilst some fans will agree with the promoter’s take, others chalked up Fury’s response to a slightly defensive attitude at the Chisora matchmaking. Despite claiming to not care about legacy or what people say, it seems some of the comments have broken through this time around.
It must be said that, despite the focus on the negative reaction in the interviews mentioned, tickets have sold well for the event, with around 60,000 believed to have been snapped up by punters so far.