‘This is why punctuation matters’: Boxing champ Fury accidentally advertizes ‘white people’s champion’ merch ahead of Joshua fight

Heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has been mocked by fans after appearing to advertize a "white people’s champion" sweatshirt to more than four million followers on Instagram, encouraging them to snap up the offer at his shop.

Eagle-eyed fans laughed at giant Briton Fury's howler after he attempted to flog the branded clothing via social media, producing an unfortunate faux-pas with an attempt at correct grammar that was as inaccurate as many of his opponents' attempts to end his unbeaten boxing career so far.

Fury was clearly keen to make the most of the business opportunity provided by millions of fans around the world keeping a watchful eye on his accounts in the hope of definitive news about his huge unification battle with countryman Anthony Joshua, which is expected to take place this summer.

"Surely not," retorted baffled boxing expert AJ Sutherland, sharing a screenshot of the farcical mistake on Twitter. "This is why punctuation matters."

A fight fan responded: "Just for a second I was like, 'crikey'."

Joshua hit the headlines last summer when he gave a speech in his London locality in which he was recorded urging people to aim to spend their money with businesses run by black people.

The typically forthright Fury later told Behind the Gloves: “Whatever his reasons were, he’s done it and it’s in the past.

"I’m sure he’s apologised if he’s offended anybody. Oh, he actually didn’t, did he?

"But if it’d been me who said, ‘Don’t shop in any black-owned stores or any Asian-owned stores and don’t buy from their businesses,’ then I’d have been crucified like Jesus Christ.”

Teasing imminent confirmation of the megafight between the arch-rivals on Instagram, Fury said he had held "another positive meeting" with organizers working alongside promoter Eddie Hearn this week.

"They've informed me things are shaping up nicely," he said. "They will be sharing the update with Eddie and you'll be hearing from me soon."