A month after arguing against homosexuality being legal, British boxer Tyson Fury apparently kissed a gay man on the cheeks in an effort to prove he’s not a homophobe.
The smooches came after a gay man confronted Fury, 27, in a bar in Poulton-le-Fylde, near Lancashire, England, on Dec. 16. Paul Cole, a 41-year-old shop manager, told The Sun that he wanted to express his distaste for controversial remarks Fury had made about homosexuality in a November interview with the Daily Mail.
“I told him, ‘I can’t stand you.’ He said he wasn’t homophobic and suddenly rubbed my beard and kissed me on both cheeks,” Cole said. The boxer, who defeated Wladimir Klitschko to become WBA and WBO world heavyweight champion in November, then proudly posed with Cole for a series of cozy-looking selfies.
Whether or not Fury’s friendly pecks will change his public image, however, is another story. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Fury argued that “the devil is very strong at the minute, very strong, and I believe the end is near,” and cited the wider acceptance of gay rights as evidence.
“There are only three things that need to be accomplished before the devil comes home: one of them is homosexuality being legal in countries, one of them is abortion and the other one’s pedophilia,” he said in the interview. “Who would have thought in the 50s and 60s that those first two would be legalized?”
The remarks prompted over 138,000 people to sign a petition to remove Fury from consideration for BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2015 because of his views on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
“The BBC clearly do not understand that by nominating Fury, who has on a number of occasions expressed homophobic views and compared homosexuality to pedophilia, they are putting him up as a role model to young people all over the U.K. and the world,” the petition reads.
Of course, the Daily Mail interview wasn’t the first time Fury had courted controversy with anti-gay remarks. In 2013, he referred to fellow boxer Tony Bellew as the “gay lover” of David Price, another fighter.
Gay nigerians do u see? Do you see what standing together can do? 138000 is enough to turn a str8 homophobe completely gay! Lol
Everything is not just sex sex sex, body parts and more sex
Barely…for me!!!
ROTFLMAO. A la Yusaf Mack style.
ROTFLMAO!!! I was waiting for someone to call me out on that.
When you said BBC award something else popped up in my mind
looool. u r just something else
He ain’t no ‘nigga’ either ?
Lol. I read this report on Huffington Post. They weren’t buying Tyson Fury’s antics there.
And I can kiss a woman too just to show the world I’m not pussy-phobic..mtchew… ???
Loool this dude should rest already, all this face saving antics won’t help.
I’m not buying this. A porn video of him getting down on another man is all I need to reconsider his homophobic stance.
Naaaaaa! I’m not buying this crap!
I could as well kiss the living daylights out of a lady today, does that make me straight? Oh, and if he truly wanted to prove not being homophobic point, why pecking? Pecking? Seriously? Who doesn’t peck in this world? That guy is just a fake ass nigga. I’m not convinced!
NEXT!
The need to be accepted.
A very strong need!
Too bad for you, Tyson. You failed to convince me. This action just reeks of falsehood
Damage control.
Dude should rest or before you know he’ll be acting a gay porn to prove he ain’t homophobic.
Haven’t read the story finish but talk about headline bait.. Pinky I am watching you via my crystal ball.. Don’t let me lay a hex on you
Mcheeeeeww…. This one is obviously thirsty for that BBC award and is feeling threatened.
oh plzzz… Nigga you’re a homophobe who ought to be issued with a shiny new Nigerian passport and then deported to Nigeria where you belong – along with all your fellow fervent, passionate, bible clutching, religion inflamed contemporaries!!! **smacks gum and saunters off***