Rick Broadbent
Tyson Fury and the BBC were locked in
a new fight last night after the broad-
caster refused to grant his wish to be
removed from the shortlist for the
Sports Personality of the Year award.
The WBC heavyweight boxing
champion, who has previously dubbed
Spoty “a fix”, was named on a six-strong
shortlist on Tuesday alongside Lewis
Hamilton, Hollie Doyle, Stuart Broad,
Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jordan Hender-
son. However, the 32-year-old issued a
video yesterday saying that he did not
want any part of the December 20 vote.
“This is a message for the BBC and
their Spoty award,” he said. “Please take
me off your list as I’m the people’s
champion and have no need for verifi-
cation or any awards. I know who I am
and what I’ve done in sport. The love of
the people is worth more to me than all
the awards in the world. So to all my
supporters please don’t vote on this and
take me off the list. All my love, Tyson
Fury, the Gypsy King.”
The BBC countered: “The shortlist is
decided by an independent expert
panel who choose contenders based on
their sporting achievement in a given
year. On this basis Tyson Fury will
remain on the list for Spoty 2020. As
always the winner will be decided by the
public vote during the live show and it is
of course up to Tyson if he chooses to
participate in the show.”
Anthony Joshua, who is likely to face
Fury in the biggest bout in British
boxing history next year, said making
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Page 70Mike Ather ton
Take me off
BBC shortlist,
orders Fury
the shortlist was an honour. Joshua, 31,
came fourth in 2017, the same position
that Fury finished two years earlier.
“It’s a nice honour even if you don’t
win,” Joshua said. “It’s about sporting
achievement and they want to
acknowledge him, but if he doesn’t
want to do it then it’s his decision.”
Fury battled back from suicidal
depression to win the WBC title against
the previously unbeaten Deontay
Wilder in Las Vegas in February. That
increased his popularity and led to him
being regarded as a mental health
champion, but he has continued to
court controversy.
This summer he publicly thanked
Daniel Kinahan for negotiating a two-
fight agreement with Joshua. Kinahan
has no criminal convictions but is a
notorious figure in Ireland and has
been identified in Dublin’s High Court
as the head of a £1 billion drugs and
arms operation.
The Kinahan cartel, originally run by
his father, has also been engaged in a
bloody family feud in Ireland that has
led to 18 deaths since 2015. Shortly after
Fury’s “thank you”, Bob Arum, Fury’s
US promoter, said Kinahan, the co-
founder of MTK Global management,
was now taking a back seat.
In addition UK Anti-Doping (Ukad)
is still understood to be looking into
claims that a farmer was offered a
£25,000 bribe to provide Fury with an
alibi to cover up a failed drug test in- Fury, who received a two-year
backdated ban in 2017, blamed the
Continued on page 73
But broadcaster refuses to accept boxer’s demand
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