By Tim Parsons –
Tyson Fury has paid £1.5m to Mick Hennessey for breaching his contract with him and joining Frank Warren after his three year hiatus from the ring in 2018. The newly crowned WBC champion was stripped of his titles in 2015 following mental health issues. His strip was initially precipitated when the gypsy king refused to honour a mandatory defence of his IBF title.
Fury insisted he had a rematch clause with Wladimir Klitschko after taking all his belts from the former champion in 2015 in Germany, ending the remarkable 11 year reign of the Ukranian. The IBF argued that Klitschko acted in breach of their rules to agree an immediate rematch in their clause, stating that such a clause required the request and permission of the governing body.
No public explanation has been given for the contractual breach with Mick Henessey which led to the huge pay out reported by The Sun Online . The assumption is that Fury had more faith in the promotional banner of Warren than he did in Hennesey. The Brit eventually fought Deontay Wilder twice, drawing the first time and winning the second last month in Las Vegas. He is now worth £70m and due to fight American Wilder for a third time, before a potential £400m blockbuster against fellow Brit Anthony Joshua in 2021.
Hennessy brought legal action after alleging Fury had broken the terms of their original agreement, but the pair agreed to settle their differences days before the court case. Fury is due to face Deontey Wilder in a rematch this July but that contest is now under threat because of the Covid 19 and the lock down operations being put in place.