Hughie Fury, the mandatory challenger to Joseph Parker's WBO heavyweight title, will be without his trainer and father, Peter Fury, in his corner after he was denied entry into New Zealand.
The Englishman was confident he'd be granted entry after submitting his application, despite having spent 10 years in jail after being convicted of drug possession and intent to supply back in 1995 and a further two years for money-laundering in 2008.
However, his access has officially been denied by immigration based on "character grounds".
In a statement, Immigration New Zealand confirmed that Fury had applied for the obligatory "special direction" exemption required for anyone who has spent more than five years in prison, but that request had been rejected.
"His case was fully considered and all representations submitted on Mr Fury’s behalf were taken into account before a decision was made to decline his request for a special direction," reads the statement.
In 2013, Peter Fury's application for a visa into the United States was also denied due to those two prison terms. He was unable to be in the corner for his nephew, Tyson Fury, who got off the floor to score a knockout victory over former world champion Steve Cunningham at New York's Madison Square Garden. Peter watched the fight from Canada.
It's understood the title bout will go ahead as scheduled at Auckland's Vector Arena on May 6th.
