TYSON FURY will be under more pressure to renounce his friend and former advisor Daniel Kinahan after the WBC slashed ties with him.
The Dubai-based ‘businessman’ has a £3.8million bounty on his head from US forces for allegedly running a “murderous” drugs empire.
The 44-year-old helped broker Fury a two-fight deal with Anthony Joshua in 2020 – only for it be cancelled – and had lunch with the Gypsy King in February.
But Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum – once of Kinahan’s loudest cheerleaders in the sport – turned on the supposed crime kingpin last week.
And now Mauricio Sulaiman – the Mexican head of the sanctioning body that Fury is heavyweight champion of – has drastically backtracked on his recent glowing praise for the exiled supposed villain.
Before flying in to enjoy Fury’s defence against Dillian Whyte on Saturday, Sulaiman said: “Whilst visiting Dubai recently I was introduced to Daniel Kinahan, who has since been placed on a sanctions list by the US Treasury Department, concerning alleged links to drug crimes.
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“This has generated speculation and attacks on myself and the WBC. I therefore feel it necessary to make it clear that at no time have we had any relationship with Daniel Kinahan.
“The World Boxing Council deals solely and exclusively with boxing promoters and only they maintain commercial relations in the certification of fights for our titles.
“The WBC has had for many years a large number of social responsibility campaigns focused on the prevention and awareness of the dangers of drug use.
“We have a wonderful program of talks given by a former DEA agent, Rocky Heron, who reaches thousands of people with his presentations.
“We have rescued many boxers and members of the boxing community around the world from the demons of addiction and we openly and constantly support rehabilitation clinics such as those of Julio Cesar Chavez and Aaron Silva, among others.
“I made an innocent mistake, due to absolute ignorance of the situation. In this way, I confirm that the World Boxing Council and all its members absolutely reject any action that is detrimental to human beings and we will continue, as always, in total compliance with the laws of all countries in the world.”
Sulaiman’s latest statement might struggle to convince critics as his previous tributes to the Irishman suggested he knew of his reputation and was choosing to support him.
A social media post of Sulaiman’s was part-captioned: “I am nobody to judge any person, and that has been the policy of our organization, to combat all types of discrimination and abuse of power, before any person and group.
“That is why Daniel will have our full support in his quest to bring benefits to boxing.”
Ninety-year-old former attorney Arum has insisted that Kinahan – who has never been convicted of a crime – is still the driving force behind major boxing businesses MTK Global and Probellum, which both have desperately denied.
A number of figures in boxing have deleted social media posts, amended their bios and deleted YouTube videos in a bid to distance themselves from Kinahan as the net appears to be closing in.
But Fury has so far refused to address the ugly issue and it is likely to be a major talking point at the media events building up to sell the fight that start on Tuesday.
