Fury launches into Klitschko: 'You've only ever fought punks'

"You've never fought anyone who can fight back. Do you understand that?" said Fury at the press conference, to which he turned up in a Lamborghini and wearing a Batman costume.

"You've fought punks. You've got all these yes-men around you, licking your ringpiece out, telling you you're the greatest.

"But what are you? You're a man with a pair of boxing gloves on, 40 years old. And what? You're getting chinned."

"It's been a long time since you've been on the canvas, hasn't it? You'll be tasting a lot of it," Fury added.

"I'm going to get on top of you. You'll be begging for help."

Fury then said that more than anything he wanted an open, competitive fight rather than a cagey, defensive one.

"If you're the man to beat me, I want beating proper. I don't want no nicking it on points... I want knocking spark out please," he said, before adding that he would be happy to "be man enough to admit it" if Klitschko does give him "a big hiding".

Tyson Fury is as ever the showman, but it's hard to see his words being anything other than PR bluster. Klitschko is far too professional an operator to get drawn into a slugfest with his latest challenger, and both fighters know it. A defensive performance in which Klitschko jabs his way to a points victory is without doubt the most likely outcome when the boxers meet next month.