Tyson Fury is one of the greatest boxers of his generation but is also known for his entertaining personality and ability to trash-talk, which he commonly displays during press conferences ahead of fights.
The Gypsy King is scheduled to fight Dillian Whyte in a world heavyweight title showdown in April at Wembley.
Whyte, who is currently preparing for the fight out in Portugal, turned down an offer to fly to London by private jet on Tuesday and officially unveil his clash with WBC champion Fury, having been left incensed with his 20 per cent cut of the fight purse.
This led to the hilarious moment where Fury enjoyed an imaginary face-off with the Brixton fighter.
Fury went on to trash Whyte for his no-show, before giving him the nickname Frillian Whyte-knickers.
Sportsmail takes a look back at six of Fury’s best press conference moments during his career.
Tyson Fury pretended to have a face-off with Dillian Whyte who was a no-show in the initial press conference for their April 23 bout
Trash-talking with David Haye
Fury is one of the best trash talkers in the business, as David Haye found out during a hilarious press conference back in 2013.
He was scheduled to fight Haye in a major domestic heavyweight fight in September that year, at the Manchester Arena.
This anticipation reached fever pitch when the pair came face to face at a press conference in early August.
What ensued was a classic half-hour in which Haye, one of the most vocal and boisterous boxers of recent times, took a back seat and let Fury take over.
Fury hurled all manners of insults in his opponent’s direction with his elder responding in bemused fashion.
The entertainment started when Adam Smith, sat between the pair, started introducing Fury who got the Sky Sports presenter to repeat ‘and sexy’ when describing the Gypsy King.
Fury stole the show during a press conference with David Haye ahead of their fight which never went ahead
Fury later went on a rant at Haye stating: ‘I’m glad this little b**** has signed the contract, there was a lot of messing around, he is a big tart David Haye I’ve given him everything he wants, so I’m glad he’s actually here and I want him to be the champion in this fight because it’s the last time he’s ever going to get claim to fame or glory or be a champion in history again.
‘He’s had a bit of fun time fighting that (Nickolai) Valuev guy who can’t get out of his own weight, fights an old man in John Ruiz takes nine rounds to get him out of there – over the hill.
‘Then who does he fight? Audley Harrison – come on people. Then he goes in there and gets bullied and played with like a little kid by Wlad (Wladimir Klitschko), the robotic Wlad.
‘Haye’s got the explosive power, the movement, the head speed but he can’t hit a robot. Good work David, good work sir.’
Fury then said he would swat Haye like a fly, use him as a stepping stone, described him as looking like a ‘Cambridge boy’ with his hairstyle and vowed to knock him out.
The Gypsy King won the battle of the words but the fight sadly never went ahead.
Haye withdrew after being cut in a sparring bout a week before the fight, before the rearranged February 2014 bout was called off as Haye underwent shoulder surgery.
Batman and Joker
In the days before his famous victory against Wladimir Klitschko, Fury turned up to the press conference in a bright yellow Lamborghini.
When the door opened and he stepped out, everyone gasped with shock as the 6ft 9in frame of Fury stepped out dressed as Batman.
Just after he was introduced to the crowd and looked like he was about to start talking about his fight with the Ukrainian, he suddenly jumped over the table and started wrestling with a man dressed as the Joker.
Both men started rolling around the floor with Fury eventually getting the better of Batman’s nemesis to the laughter from those in the press conference.
Fury dressed as Batman wrestled with a man dressed as Joker in the build-up to his fight with Wladimir Klitschko
Fury then turned his attention to Klitschko, pointing at his rival and stating: ‘You, next, this is a fool just like you are.
‘Look at him, this is how you’ll be looking when you face me on 24th October. You’ll look up on your back like that you old idiot, you old fool.
‘You’ve taken too many punches, I didn’t understand anything you’ve just said, so repeat your speech again as nobody heard it.’
He then asked a member of the crowd to help him drag the Joker out of the room.
Klitschko was stunned in silence and the fight which was later rearranged for November 28, saw the Gypsy King win via unanimous decision, ending the Ukrainian’s reign of nearly ten years.
Fury gets his belly out
The Gypsy King was scheduled to fight Klitschko in a rematch in July 2016.
In their pre-match press conference, instead of donning a cape and mask, Fury instead took his shirt off and told his rival: ‘You couldn’t beat a fat man.’
The normally smooth and calm Klitschko was anything but ahead of the second fight, slamming Fury for his prior controversial comments on various subjects including women and homosexuality.
Fury returned fire with a series of expletives, suggesting Klitschko lacked the guts to take on a fighter with the hunger to beat him.
Fury got his belly out and told Klitschko that he couldn’t ‘beat a fat man’ in the build-up to their second fight which never went ahead
‘He got beat the first time around fair and square,’ Fury said ‘He got beat on his own turf, you got whooped. You will have to come 1,000 times better because you landed about four times in 12 rounds against a big fat gypsy.
‘You are a hall of dog s— fighter in my mind. I’m going to knock him out inside a round just to show how s— he is, and no 40-year-old is going to beat me, 27 years old.’
Rather than dressing up as a superhero, this time Fury’s party piece was taking off his shirt. He revealed a soft belly and suggested he needs to lose weight before fight night.
The fight was postponed until September 2016 due to an ankle sprain Fury suffered in training, before it was again put back as Fury was declared ‘medically unfit’.
Fury then vacated his titles in October that year, admitting in an interview with Rolling Stone that he had battled with depression, abused cocaine and alcohol and hadn’t trained since May earlier that year.
Hijacks his own press conference
Fury returned to boxing in 2018 – two and a half years after his last fight with Klitschko.
He lost none of his entertaining skills as he showed ahead of his fight with German Tom Schwarz for the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title.
He hijacked his own press conference by jumping on to the stage early, grabbing a microphone, shouting ‘who’s ready for a f****** press conference’ and ordering his promoters and opponent to join him.
Schwarz, who he beat via TKO in the second-round of their June 2019 bout in Las Vegas, as well as his promoters Bob Arum and Frank Warren obliged.
Fury hijacked his own press conference and sang to promote his fight with Tom Schwarz
Fury told Schwarz he was a ‘good looking chap,’ and even pretender to pucker up for a kiss with his opponent.
He asked Schwarz if they should sing a song before adding: ‘Who has got the minerals to come up here and give us a song?’
The Gypsy King fielded random questions before the TV transmission began and as the cameras began rolling he launched into a rendition of Rag’n’Bone man’s hit single ‘Human’.
That led him into his personal promotion as a depression survivor as he said his real calling for the fight was to ‘help other people, to inspire them not to give up’.
Fury and Schwarz looked more like friends than upcoming opponents, as they also posed for pictures together at the end of the press conference.
10-8 win at the press conference
The build-up to the first fight with Deontay Wilder and the American was a different animal back then. He refused to take a backward step and it made for the kind of soap opera antics promoters love to build up interest.
During one TV appearance both men were separated by security as they yelled at each other and things turned physical again at another press conference with Wilder shoving his opponent.
A scuffle on stage in New York sent two security guards tumbling to the ground while Fury shouted: ‘I’m born ready.’
Fury rattled Wilder during the press conference for their first bout in February 2020
Afterwards he said: ‘That was a 10-8 round out there. I saw fear in his eye and his backside was flapping.
‘He came here today to be cool, calm and collected to make a joke of things but I didn’t come here to joke. I’m here to get in his mind and put it right on him and I’ve done it over three dates.
‘I’ve won every single competition. The mind games are mine, I am the master of the mind.’
That mental warfare provided the backdrop to the first fight and no doubt drew in plenty of the 775,000-pay-per-view buys.
The Silent treatment
The loud, proud Wilder was a shadow of himself at the first press conference to promote the trilogy fight.
In fact, he refused to engage at all with the man who had beaten him so convincingly months earlier.
The American sat down with his headphones on and blanked any attempts from Fury to speak to him, leaving the Gypsy King to carry the event on his own.
Wilder later explained: ‘I just mean business, I didn’t come here to play around.
‘I’m strictly business when it comes to this fight. I’ll let him do the circus, let him promote it and do it.
‘And see, can he hold up that end of the bargain? Because I don’t think he can.
Fury and Wilder had a six-minute face-off during the press conference for their trilogy bout
‘He looked for me to entertain and he was like my partner in crime, I’m Batman, he’s Robin.
‘But now I’ll let him do his thing and see how entertaining he will be. It’s the same old, same old.
‘I couldn’t hear nothing, I didn’t wanna (hear) nothing. It ain’t nothing for me to hear.’
After Wilder’s refusal to speak, he shared a very intense staredown with Fury on stage that lasted six minutes.
Fury went back-and-forth with Wilder’s new trainer Malik Scott but his opponent kept his headphones on throughout.
Fury interpreted the refusal to engage as weakness and the proof will be the pudding.
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