Last Saturday night, Tyson Fury stunned the boxing world when he beat Wladimir Klitschko in Germany to become the new heavyweight champion of the world. At the time, it seemed like a great thing for the sport of boxing and, specifically, the heavyweight division, which hasn’t really been relevant in years now. But some footage of Fury doing an interview last month has surfaced and, well, let’s just say that it’s not going to help Fury win over many new fans.
In the video, the British boxer is asked a question about female boxers. And while his answer starts off pretty PC, it quickly disintegrates into a series of sexist comments that aren’t sitting well with anyone.
“It’s up to everybody what they want to do,” he says in the clip when asked about females making the decision to fight. “I’m all for it. I’m not a sexist. I believe if a man can go to work all his life, a woman can. Who am I to say, ‘Don’t do that ‘cause you’re a girl’? But I believe a woman’s best place is in the kitchen and on her back. That’s my personal belief. Making me a good cup of tea—that’s what I believe.”
Yikes. How did he manage to go from “I’m not a sexist” to that in, like, five seconds?
In the video, Fury also speaks about homosexuality and pedophilia and insinuates that there is a connection between the two. He echoes what he told the Daily Mail last month during a controversial interview with them.
“There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the devil comes home,” he said in early November. “One of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion, and the other is pedophilia. Who would have thought in the ‘50s and ‘60s that those first two would be legalized?”
And if you think Fury is sorry because of anything he said, think again. He’s currently in the running for the BBC Sports Athlete of the Year award, and someone started a petition to remove him from the running. His response to it was this:
You can hear Fury’s sexist comments at about the 58-minute mark of the video above. This is the guy that's going to help save boxing's heavyweight division?
Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.
[via ESPN]
