Sport
Kellie Maloney: Tyson Fury should be struck off BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist
By Amit Nathwani
Updated 2018 GMT (0418 HKT) December 14, 2015
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Newly-crowned world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has caused outrage with recent remarks he allegedly made about homosexuality and women. Boxing promoter Kellie Maloney, who was known as Frank Maloney until undergoing gender reassignment, says his comments "crossed the line." Courtesy Getty Images
Maloney, along with more than 120,000 people, has signed a petition calling for the 27-year-old boxer to be removed from a prestigious sports award shortlist. Fury is in the running to be named Sports Personality of the Year (SPOTY), an award voted for by the British public which is supposed to recognize the athlete "whose actions have most captured the public's imagination." Lars Baron/Bongarts/Bongarts/Getty Images
The undefeated fighter was added to the list after beating longstanding champion Wladimir Klitschko. Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images
Fury said Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill "slaps up good" in a dress and that a woman's place was "in the kitchen and on her back." And in a Daily Mail interview, his comments also included equating homosexuality and abortion with pedophilia.
Fury "still has to respect other human beings and respect the diversity that's in this world," said Maloney. "In a way he's become a bit of monster because now he's at the top of pile." Chris Brunskill/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
The 62-year-old Maloney believes Fury is now a role model for young people and should therefore be more careful about sharing his beliefs in public. "If the BBC keeps him on the list, then all sports people will think, 'We can say what we like and we'll still be selected,'" said Maloney. Mark Runnacles/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
Notable former winners of the prestigious SPOTY award include former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who was managed by Maloney. Gray Mortimore/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images
