Tyson Fury is the new heavyweight boxing champion of the world after beating Ukraine's Wladimir Klitschko.
Fury, 27, became the WBA, IBF and WBO champion with Saturday evening's win against Klitschko, 39, who was the world champion for almost a decade. While Klitschko is used to being the taller man in the ring, Fury topped him by three inches.
The scores were 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111, all to Fury.
"You're a great champion Wlad, thanks very much for having me," Fury said after the win. "It was all fun and games in the build-up, I just wanted to be confident, young and brash," the new champ said of his trash talking in advance of the match.
Despite his big win, Fury continues to face backlash from the public for comments he made in an interview with the Daily Mail, a British tabloid publication.
"There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the devil comes home," Fury told the paper. "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? When I say pedophiles 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 later crystalized his point: "People can say, 'You are against abortions, you are against pedophilia, you are against homosexuality,' but my faith and my culture is based on the Bible."
Matt Dickinson, the chief sports reporter at the British newspaper the Times, shared this message in regards to Fury's win and homophobia:
The worst champion ever. And a vile homophobic bigot to boot. Apart from that, feel free to celebrate
— Matt Dickinson (@DickinsonTimes) November 28, 2015
The message was retweeted more than 1,000 times. Others agreed with Dickinson's sentiments online:
@paulsinha that's exactly why I can't stand Tyson Fury. I won't congratulate him just because he's British. The bloke is a vile homophobe.
— Boo 💙🤍 (@Labratx1981) November 29, 2015
I respect Tyson Fury but can't join those (hello celebs) going giddy over him. As @george_ogier said, hard to cheer an unrepentant homophobe
— James Clark (@MotoClark) November 29, 2015
From this day forward, the public must surely consider Tyson Fury to be…
— RedEaredRabbit (@RedEaredRabbit) November 29, 2015
…the same quarter-witted homophobe he was yesterday.
Let's not forget in our nationalistic fervour that Klitschko is a gent and Tyson Fury believes the apocalypse is nigh because of gay people.
— Rob Davies (@ByRobDavies) November 28, 2015
Despite the controversy surrounding Fury's thoughts on homosexuality and abortion, others celebrated his win in full force. Klitschko offered his congratulations:
Gongrats to Tyson Fury #teamklitschko
— Klitschko (@Klitschko) November 28, 2015
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Polly Mosendz is a breaking news reporter for Newsweek. She was previously a staff writer for The Wire and associate ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
