Tyson Fury shrugged off a US decision to ban him from the States over his past connections with gangster Daniel Kinahan and declared: “Life is very good.”
Less than 48 hours after he was told he could not fly to America, the world’s top heavyweight spent Father’s Day celebrating with his family – and defiantly boasted how happy he was with life.
However, sources last night told the Mirror that a US ban for Fury and other Irish and UK boxers once connected to Kinahan through the now defunct MTK Global will cost them millions in lost earnings.
Despite that bombshell Fury, who comes from an Irish Traveller background, went for a walk on the beach with his wife Paris and their kids.
And the 33-year-old told his 5.7 million followers on Instagram: “Life is very good…very blessed. Thank God.”
The boxer made no reference to Friday’s incident when he tried to board a flight to New York from Manchester Airport but was told he could not get on because of his former connections with Kinahan.
The mob boss now has a $5million bounty on his head as part of an international crackdown.
The decision of the Yanks to block him from the flight is believed to be because he was put on a list of some 600 people who are now barred from the country because of links to 44-year-old drug lord Kinahan – now one of the world’s wanted men.
And that was despite Fury having no links to criminality, just like the vast bulk of the 600 people on the no-fly list, which was created after America launched a massive hunt in April against the €1billion crime gang.
Although Fury has no links to crime, he was previously close to Dublin-born Kinahan and in June 2020 openly praised him for helping to set up a potentially massive fight between him and rival Anthony Joshua.
Kinahan has been active for years in the fight game and advised Fury on the fight, although the face-off was later cancelled after an uproar over the cartel chief ’s involvement.
Fury later distanced himself from Kinahan – who is now holed up with his father Christy, 64, and 41-year-old brother Christopher in their Dubai bolthole – and said he had severed links with him.
Boxing sources last night told the Irish Mirror they fear dozens of Irish boxers who were once in the MTK stable would suffer the same fate as Fury if they try to enter America and that could mean them losing millions of euro in fight money.
Kinahan and pal Matthew Macklin – who has also been barred from America – set up MTK in 2012 when it was originally called MGM.
It had more than 30 Irish boxers on its books at one stage. And even though the company claimed it had nothing to do with Kinahan since he sold it in 2017, boxing supremo Bob Arum has insisted the mobster still controlled it in recent years.
Sources said that was likely bad news for the boxers who were in the MTK team, including those from Ireland.
One expert said: “If the no-fly list really is 600 strong, then it’s likely the Irish MTK lads are in trouble. They are probably on the list and will also be barred from America.
“None of them are as big as Tyson Fury but they could still make good earnings in America. if they can’t get there, that opportunity is lost.”
As well as banning Kinahan from the country over his drugs empire, US authorities are looking to bring him to the States to face organised crime charges.
That could see him locked up for the rest of his life.
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