Heavyweight star Tyson Fury was "totally unaware" of payments made to drug baron Daniel Kinahan in consultancy fees for his last four fights, his US promoter has insisted.
Bob Arum says he was "pestered" by Kinahan for payments but Fury only learned of this last weekend.
On Saturday, the Irish Mirror revealed that Arum's Top Rank Promotions paid Kinahan between $1.5m and $2m for each of Fury's two bouts against Deontay Wilder as well as fights against Otto Wallin and Tom Schwarz, dating back to 2019.
Kinahan, 44, had previously advised Fury in an unlicensed role.
Speaking in advance of Fury's bout with Dillian Whyte on Saturday, Arum told the Irish Mirror: "I just know that we, Top Rank, paid Kinahan a fee that didn't come out of the fighters, and didn't come out of Tyson Fury.
"I talked to Tyson, he was totally unaware that he was being hit up for a fee. We paid Kinahan a fee on every Fury fight we promoted.
"Tyson was stunned, he was totally unaware. He was really surprised, I could tell, he was not playing games."
Frank Warren, Fury's co-promoter, was also unaware of these payments.
Both Fury and Arum have publicly cut ties with Kinahan.
When asked about the money paid to Kinahan earlier this week, Fury said: "That's Bob Arum’s own personal business, what he does with his own money. He can spend it all on gummy bears if he wants to. What someone does with their money is out of my control."
It comes after the Dubliner was last week sanctioned by the US Government who placed a $5million bounty on his head, along with his father Christy Snr and brother Christy Jnr.
Earlier today, the UAE moved and seized the Kinahan cartel's assets.
Boxing hall of famer Arum, 90, has also admitted that he and other figures in boxing may have downplayed Kinahan's links to crime.
The boxing powerhouse previously said that people were "laughing at the Irish" when the Government came out against Kinahan in 2020 after he was hailed by Fury for brokering a two-fight deal against Anthony Joshua, one which later collapsed.
Arum said: "Yeah obviously when the US Government took the position they had just taken really gave credibility to what was reportedly the position of the Irish Government.
"The Irish Government had reportedly said these things yet had taken no action.
"I thought 'yeah maybe it's true, maybe it wasn't true'."
He added: "When the United States Government at the highest level took the position that they took, it really gave credibility to everything that was written in the Irish media which we all tended to downplay a little bit."
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