Fury has been roundly criticised in the UK media for his views on homosexuality, abortion and paedophilia since winning the unified crown from Wladimir Klitschko and Rutherford got involved when the 27 year-old boxer was nominated for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
After writing to the BBC to express his concerns, London 2012 gold medallist and 2015 world champion Rutherford has now confirmed his appearance on the show as a fellow nominee, but had a few choice words for Fury when explaining the situation to his fans.
“I have opinions, of which I was privately clear. I did pull out of SPOTY as on Sunday I wrote to the BBC requesting removal,” said Rutherford.
“Throughout the next 2 days, the SPOTY team asked me to stay on. Also, I realised my nomination meant so much to my family. I then asked myself, do I really want to disappoint my own family just because of a bigot’s views? The answer was no.
“Next thing I know, someone leaks my withdrawal request and the private decision I’ve made suddenly changes to something much bigger.
“So, I will still attend SPOTY to make my family proud and to thank them for the support in my career, and that’s what I plan to do.
“And, I’m mega keen to meet Tyson Fury’s riveting, personality-filled little toe,” he added.
After initially spurning his participation in the award, Fury has now begun asking his supporters to vote for him, although whether the WBA, WBO and IBO title holder will actually turn up on December 20 is debatable at this point.
AND, I'm mega keen to meet Tyson Fury’s riveting, personality-filled little toe ????????
— Greg Rutherford (@GregJRutherford) December 9, 2015
