• Heavyweight

Tyson's Fury: Wladimir's a bitch, Haye's a pathetic loser

Wladimir Klitschko is a "bitch", Vitali is a "pensioner", David Haye's a "pathetic loser" and David Price counts as a "fraud", all according to heavyweight loudmouth Tyson Fury.

Ahead of his US debut on April 20 against Steve Cunningham, Fury has offered his thoughts on almost the entire heavyweight division. The only man to come out of it with any credit is American hope Deontay Wilder, who has knocked out all 27 of his opponents to date.

Fury, who counts Dereck Chisora, Martin Rogan and Kevin Johnson among his relatively average list of victims, started with the Klitschko brothers, who have dominated the heavyweight scene for years.

"A bitch," Fury began in the Daily Mail, describing Wladimir. "He doesn't want to fight back and he doesn't want to fight anybody dangerous. So that, to me, is a bitch."

Moving on to Vitali, Fury continued: "At 42 you're a pensioner, not a heavyweight boxer. The Klitschkos know that age waits for nobody. If they put Vitali in the same ring with me I would take his heart out and feed it to him. But I've got no appetite for beating up old men."

Next Fury turned his attention to his closest British rivals, Haye and Price, the former of whom lost badly to Wladimir Klitschko before blaming defeat on his injured toe.

"If Wladimir is a bitch then what does that make Haye? What more can I say about him than he has humiliated himself already? The guy goes into a world heavyweight title fight saying he's going to knock out this Klitschko, then he runs away. Well, that's worse than being a bitch. That's a pathetic loser."

Price, meanwhile, had been seen as being on a parallel career path to Fury, prior to his shock loss to veteran Tony Thompson. Fury took great delight in the upset.

"Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. He lost to a pensioner. How do you let an old man who is out of shape punch you on the head? How do you go down from a clip, not a solid punch? It just shows I was right about Price all along. He's a fraud. I've been saying it from day one. Nobody listens to me but I'm a connoisseur when it comes to heavyweights."

Thompson clearly sits on Fury's list of potential opponents, with the Brit commenting: "Unless somebody gets to him before I do, I'll put him out of his misery."

It seems Alexander Povetkin, the regular WBA title holder below super-champion Klitschko, would also be on Fury's agenda - if he ever accepted the fight.

"[He's] a little girl, he doesn't want to fight anyone with a heartbeat," Fury said. "We keep offering to fight him and four times it's been 'No, no, no, no'."

The only man who gains appreciation from Fury is Wilder, the unbeaten American attempting to put US boxing back on the heavyweight map. However, even he received a dose of Tyson's fury.

"Probably the best heavyweight in America at the moment. But my jury is out on him because he's not been tested yet by someone like me.

"He's so proud of coming third in the Olympics that he calls himself the Bronze Bomber. If I was a semi-final loser I wouldn't want to keep bragging about it."

Fury, now more than ever, will need to impress when he hits American shores on April 20, although Cunningham is not expected to provide a great test. The 36-year-old is a natural cruiserweight and will be significantly smaller than Fury, who is aiming to build his fanbase before facing one or two of the men he has just lambasted.

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