Tyson Fury is back at it. Just a couple days out from his heavyweight boxing bout with Steve Cunningham on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, the British pugilist still has one of mixed martial arts’ biggest fish in his sights. In a recent interview with ESPN.com, Fury made it clear that he has not forgotten about UFC heavyweight king Cain Velasquez.
Fury, who claims to be the best fighter in the world – period – is unbeaten in 20 professional boxing matches, with 14 victories via knockout. He does not currently own a championship, but Saturday’s showdown with Cunningham could serve as a potential title eliminator.
“I would take Cain Velasquez out,” Fury added. “MMA to me is bulls—t. It’s for people who can’t box and like wrestling on the floor. It’s rubbish.”
This is not the first time Fury has taken to firing jabs at Velasquez, who is scheduled to face Antonio Silva at UFC 160 on May 25. After the American Kickboxing Academy product dismantled Junior dos Santos at UFC 155 to regain the heavyweight crown, Fury began making noise about a crossover fight via Twitter.
“I challenge [you] to fight all in in a cage or ring! It could be billed as man vs. midget, let’s get it on! [You] small, stiff idiot,” Fury wrote to Velasquez directly.
Velasquez had a simple response to Fury’s attacks in January.
“I’m not a boxer. I’m a mixed martial artist, and if he wants to fight, he can go into the UFC and work his way up like everybody else does. Nothing is given to you in this world,” he said. “To me it’s like don’t talk about it, go ahead and do it. That’s all I have to say about that.”
It was all he really needed to say. Those who are interested in watching Fury in action can tune to NBC beginning at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday.