Tyson Fury wore tape over his mouth and refused to utter a single word at a press conference yesterday in protest against his fine from the British Boxing Board of Control.
He was given a misconduct charge and fined £15,000 for his behaviour at a media event in June, during which he uttered expletive-ridden rants at Dereck Chisora and journalists.
The tape strapped across the 26-year-old's mouth had "BBB of C" and question marks written across it.
"At the end of the day you need characters to be able to be themselves - whatever they're confronted with," said promoter Mick Hennessy, speaking on Fury's behalf at the press conference as the fighter prepares to face Chisora for a second time on November 29 at London's ExCel, having won the initial bout in 2011. "Sometimes you're going to get a gentleman with Tyson and sometimes, if he's rubbed up the wrong way, you'll get another side of him. At the end of the day, surely he should be allowed to be himself.
"We could be in jeopardy of this fight not happening - we all want the fight to happen so that's what this is about."
Fury, who has won all 22 of his fights to date, signalled with hand gestures that he plans to keep the tape on for all interviews ahead of the fight. He also signed that he would knock Chisora out in the first round.
Hennessy and Peter Fury, Tyson's uncle and trainer, also feel aggrieved at the conduct of the BBB of C towards them during the process of reprimanding the fighter. "We've got a BBB of C dummy, which is what the board wanted," said Peter Fury.
The bout with Chisora, which has sold 12,500 tickets so far, serves as a WBO heavyweight title eliminator with the winner earning the right to face champion Wladimir Klitschko. "I'm going to knock him out - it's a simple fact," Chisora said.
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