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Tyson Fury describes shirt-ripping O2 clash with Dereck Chisora

Phil D. Jay
WBN Editor

Title challenger reveals details of Groves v DeGale brawl

English heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has lifted the lid on his scuffle with British and Commonwealth champion Dereck Chisora at the O2 Arena last weekend. The 22 year-old spoke in detail to British tabloid The Sun to explain why he confronted “Del Boy” as Frankie Gavin fought Young Mutley on the ‘This is it’ undercard eight days ago.

Fury, from Manchester, has an almost identical record to the champion, both having won all fourteen of their bouts and are set to meet on July 23rd in “The Brawl to settle it all,” which almost happened a couple of months earlier as the 6ft 9in man mountain described to Sun man Gavin Glicksman.

"I got there and had every intention of keeping a low profile. I had tickets fairly far back in the arena and I just wanted a quiet night.

"But my uncle pointed out where Chisora was sitting and a couple of my friends reminded me about some of the stuff he'd said in the papers about me not being a proper fighter.

"He'd been saying that my promoter Mick Hennessy had been trying to steal the British title from him to give it to me without us fighting, but that's just not the case.

"After they said that to me, I thought about it for all of three seconds before telling myself, 'I've got to have him for that'.

"So I ran down the stairs, jumped a couple of barriers and made it past security to the ringside barrier where I shouted, 'Oi, Chisora'.

"He didn't answer so I tried again with, 'Oi, Del Boy'. He turned around and I said, 'Who do you think you are talking about me in the papers? Do you honestly think you can get away with that?'

"He was lost for words so I followed it up by telling him that I'll knock him out when we fight. I told him I'd kill him.

"He looked scared and backed right up. Of course I said a lot more to him and was screaming abuse, but he backed up about 20 yards before giving it large about there not being enough money on offer.

"I replied with, 'Money? It's all about money is it? I fight for honour, not money!'

"So I ripped my shirt off and told him I'd fight him then and there. I did a bit of shadow boxing but no punches were thrown as Warren ushered him away.

"The shirt was off purely because it's a tradition type of thing. You don't have a proper scrap with your shirt on!"

With the news now in that the Commonwealth title will also be on the line in the summer showdown, which is due to take place at Wembley Arena, it’s warming up nicely for their eagerly-anticipated dust-up and with Groves v DeGale and Cleverly v Bellew, it’s a welcome addition to the domestic grudge matches.

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