Fury taunts Klitschko: You couldn't beat a fat man

Tyson Fury's latest news conference antics Wednesday riled WladimirKlitschko so much that the usually clean-cut heavyweight swore at his opponent in a heated exchange in Manchester.

Fury, who famously dressed up as Batman in the build-up to his previous fight with Klitschko, promised a first-round knockout as the pair came face-to-face at Manchester Arena, the venue for their rematch on July 9.

Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) captured Klitschko's WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight titles via a shock points win in Germany last November, but he was stripped of the IBF belt soon after for refusing to fight his mandatory challenger. The 27-year-old still had the belt at Wednesday's news conference, and at one point he took off his shirt to tell Klitschko, "You couldn't beat a fat man".

The smooth Klitschko, 40, had a blunt and rather surprising message for Fury, who has been criticized for his controversial comments on various subjects, including women and homosexuality.

"In the past few months I was going through a lot of emotions, and I can confirm I made a mistake in the fight with Fury," Klitschko said. "That mistake cost me the titles.

"I'm not okay with what comes out of Fury's mouth, his statements. For example - that all homosexual men and women and paedophiles belong in the same place, in jail basically. That all women belong in the kitchen and on their back.

"So that is basically where he sees Elton John and the Queen. To all people who say the same and think the same way out there, and to you Fury - I want to say f--- off."

Fury returned fire with a series of expletives, suggesting Klitschko lacked the guts to take on a fighter with the hunger to beat him.

"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.

Klitschko, who had been a world champion for over nine years, was sparse with his words, but he promised: "I will knock Tyson Fury out, period. Whatever Tyson has said is going to be put to an end on July 9. I definitely will have more motivation than I ever have."

Fury, who has a three-inch height advantage, was dismissive of Klitschko and needed little encouragement in baiting the former champion.

"My grandmother was a fortune teller, and I can read you like a book, so I must be Nostradamus," said Fury. "How is he going to knock me out when you landed three punches in 12 rounds last time?

"He's a psychologically weak person, he will be quaking his boots [like he was] before the first fight against a big fat man from England."

While Klitschko claimed to be more motivated than ever, Fury admitted he hated boxing.

"I hate every second of it," Fury said. "I hate the training, the boxing, the lot. I would rather be at home eating some chocolate and watching TV with the kids. I hate boxing, but I'm just too good at it and making too much money to stop."