New world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury spoke with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour today about what he's been doing since his big win over Wladimir Klitschko, his thoughts on mixed martial arts, and perhaps most importantly for some, the controversy sparked by some of his recent comments.
Listen to the interview above, and here's a bit of what he told Ariel:
On what he's been doing since beating Wladimir Klitschko
"I've just been with my family, living a day-to-date life, basically. I've not been out partying, I've not been out celebrating. I've not been celebrating at all, actually. I got on my knees and I thanked the Lord for giving me the victory, and I've done a couple of interviews, but I've had my phone switched off a lot of the time. I'm just taking some time out, away from all the glitz and glamour of the sport, away from everything, just to be with my family. I have two kids and a wife and one on the way, so I'm just spending some quality time with them."
On the controversy surrounding recent statements
"I've said what I've said, and I'm man enough to back it up. I'll never change. I'm a real person, I'm a realist, and I'm not a yes man. Nobody can tell me what to say. I am Tyson Fury, the heavyweight champion of the world and the baddest man on the planet. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Simple.
"People say I've got a lot of responsibility on me. I've got my own wife, my own kids to look after. Don't care about other people. They don't walk in my shoes. I'll say what I want, do what I want, how I want, when I want, no one's gonna stop me."
Clarifying his homosexuality/pedophilia views
"What they're trying to say is that I'm a gay hater, and I can't tell the difference between a pedophile and a homosexual. But it's quite simple to tell the difference between a pedophile and a homosexual, and even as stupid as I am, I can tell the difference between a homosexual and a pedophile. A homosexual is somebody who consents to have gay sex with a man or woman, and a pedophile is someone who messes about with children. There's no confusion there.
"I'm a big Christian, I believe in my faith. And I said before the world ends, homosexuality needs to be made legal, abortions need to be made legal, and pedophilia needs to be made legal before the world ends. That's just my opinion. Two of them's already legal. Homosexuality is legal and so is abortions. So the only thing that needs to be made legal is pedophilia. And then when that one gets made legal, then we're in trouble, the end is very, very close then. I'm waiting on armageddon, I'm waiting for the world to end. I can't wait for Jesus to come back, because I'm going straight to heaven with him.
"That's why the comment's wrong. I'm a religious person, I believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ. And the devil is so strong now that the devil doesn't want me to talk about Jesus, so they try and twist it and say I hate people."