MANCHESTER (AFP) – Tommy Fury said his boxing fight with YouTuber KSI has become a “circus” after the pair traded insults while separated by perspex glass inside a cage on Thursday.
Fury, the half-brother of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, will take on KSI in a six round cruiserweight contest at the Manchester Arena today.
The build-up to the bout was marred at a press conference on Thursday when bottles were thrown and insults traded.
Animosity has steadily been building between Fury and KSI, who may be relative novices in boxing but have quickly adapted to the sport’s habit of pre-fight controversy.
Fury’s outspoken father John stepped into a metal cage and threw punches at the transparent partition separating him from KSI, who earlier dodged a bottle thrown from a side of the stage.
WWE star Logan Paul, set to compete in the co-main event bout in Manchester, was left with a cut on his face after a brief brawl with his opponent Dillon Danis before the rivals were separated by security.
“I’m in the crossover world of boxing, it’s a circus act,” Tommy Fury said. “We know what we’re in for. I’m here to fight. Cut all the other stuff, we’re fighting in two days, the talking is done.”
The ugly scenes hardly improved the image of YouTube boxing, with this weekend’s event not sanctioned by the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) but instead by the Professional Boxing Association (PBA).
