Tyson Fury and Frank Warren talk boxing return

Tyson Fury and Frank Warren joined Piers and Susanna on Good Morning Britain today with Tyson revealing he had been on the receiving end of racism in the UK.

Speaking about the recent events in America, where he has fought, Tyson said he had been on the receiving end of racism, saying: “I think it’s a terrible thing that’s happened… unacceptable behaviour from any colour or race of people… it’s very unacceptable and something needs to be done about it.”

He said we had to do more to battle racism the whole year, not just for one day. Tyson went on: “I am a white male but I suffer racism in 2020 as a white person because I’m a traveller, I come from an ethnic background, gypsy, gyspy king, traveller.” He said he can still see pub signs saying no travellers: “I think travellers are the most acceptable form of racism in Britain and in the world at the moment. It’s still acceptable to be racists against travellers…”

He said it was terrible to be judged in that way: “To be refused entry even when I’m world Heavyweight Champion. This was like 2016, me and Paris went to go into a restaurant bar… They said no gypsies allowed. I said, ‘I’m the Heavyweight Champion boxer representing this country, I’m not just some gypsy.’ She went, ‘You are a traveller aren’t you?’ and she said, ‘No travellers allowed.’ And I said, ‘Thank you very much’… It was in England. So I know what it feels like to be racist towards… anyone can be a racist person no matter what their background.”

On boxing in the coronavirus era, Frank Warren added: “I think we have thoroughly investigated… we have all the safety precautions in place, I believe there will be boxing behind closed doors sometime in July. You are quite right, it is a contact sport between two participants but they will be tested going into it, tested afterwards, they will be tested leading up to the fight. They will go through all the medical protocols. So if either of them are showing any signs of the symptoms they will not be allowed to fight.”

On fighting under these circumstances, Tyson said: “It’s a real issue [coronavirus]. It seems like I was in Vegas one minute fighting Deontay Wilder and I’ve come back home and the world’s totally ended for a bit. Very serious, a lot of people have died. I’m not sure what the protocol will be for getting back into the ring any time soon.”

On fighting Anthony Joshua, he said: “There are all these words from Anthony Joshua’s band, all these other opponents but Deontay Wilder still has his third fight he’s got to take. He will do. He will take the fight for only one reason and it’s called money. He will take the fight because there is a hell of a lot of money on the table, I think he’s got eight or nine kids to feed. He will definitely take the rematch. It’s heavyweight boxing, anything can happen as we have seen especially with a dynamite boxer like Wilder.”

On lockdown, he admitted there had been positives and negatives for his family. He said it had given him time to spend with his family and to think about his priorities including: “How not to take things for granted, I’m sure a lot of people around the world will be in the same boat.” He said he had not put on any weight, but had lost four pounds training four times a day.

GMB, weekdays from 6am to 10am on ITV.