AFP/London
Tyson Fury has been asked to attend a British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) hearing to explain his controversial recent media comments, the organisation announced yesterday.
Fury, 27, has been accused of homophobia and sexism since dethroning longstanding world heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko in Duesseldorf at the end of last month.
It has provoked a storm of criticism and after meeting on Wednesday to discuss the matter, the BBBC has summoned Fury to appear before it in the new year.
“Mr Fury has been called for an interview in the new year,” BBBC general secretary Robert Smith told Britain’s Press Association. No date has yet been set for the meeting.
Over 130,000 people have signed a petition calling for Fury to be removed from the shortlist for the BBC’s prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award.
“There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the devil comes home,” Fury told the Mail on Sunday.
“One of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion and the other is paedophilia. Who would have thought in the 50s and 60s that those first two would be legalised?
“When I say paedophiles could be made legal, it sounds crazy. But if I had said to you about the first two being made legal in the 50s, I would have been looked upon as a crazy man.”
Fury has also been accused of sexism after stating that a woman’s place was “in the kitchen and on her back”.
But in an interview with Sky Sports News broadcast on Thursday, Fury denied that he was sexist or homophobic.
“I’m not a homophobe, I’m not a sexist, I’m not any of those,” he said. “I’m not a bigot, I’m not a racist, I am a gypsy. I’ve (had people) being racist towards me for the past 27 years.
“You don’t hear me complaining about it, do you? I don’t write any newspaper articles about it.
“If the police are going to waste the taxpayers’ money in investigating Tyson Fury for being hated then that’s just a joke. It’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
