Tyson Fury pre-fight Zoom conference ducks questions over Daniel Kinahan

Boxing’s embarrassing determination to avoid the unpalatable truth about its often tawdry business was laid bare on Thursday evening during a media conference call to publicise the world heavyweight title fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium on 23 April.

Earlier this week the biggest boxing news story of the year broke when the US Treasury announced that they had imposed harsh sanctions against Daniel Kinahan, one of the most powerful men in the sport, who has acted as a confidante and adviser to Fury and many other leading fighters in Britain and the United States. The US government also warned all fighters and promoters who have worked with Kinahan to cut ties with him owing to his alleged leadership of a criminal cartel.

Yet, on a Zoom call featuring up to a hundred journalists, not one question was put to Fury, or his promoters Bob Arum and Frank Warren, about the damage done to boxing’s already battered reputation. Those reporters invited to offer their queries to Fury chose to focus exclusively on routine questions about the buildup to the fight and the world champion’s exuberant mood as he prepares to defend his titles against Whyte before a crowd of 94,000 a week on Saturday. Meanwhile, journalists who work outside the parochial boxing media, and were itching to ask Fury how he felt about the sanctions imposed on Kinahan, were left frustrated.

All the media were muted until called and so there was no way of breaking the omerta of silence that engulfs boxing when it comes to discussing the deeply troubling influence of Kinahan. Based in Dubai, and in exile from his native Ireland where he and his family face multiple allegations of criminal activity, Kinahan has been a source of great