The annual ceremony took place in Northern Ireland this weekend amidst a media storm surrounding the 27 year-old over comments made in a controversial interview in November. Fury was met by some protesters upon his arrival at the Belfast venue but refused to speak until taking to the stage to address his nomination.
Fury went on to apologise for any offence caused and stated that it was ‘never his intention to hurt anyone’ in stating his religious beliefs and saying fellow nominee Jessica Ennis ‘looks good in a dress’ earlier this year.
Once voting had been completed and the numbers were crunched, Fury was announced in fourth place behind Ennis, rugby player Kevin Sinfield and eventual winner Andy Murray, although that wasn’t the end of the argument.
A fourth place finish meant Fury was unable to pick up a trophy and be photographed alongside Murray and Sinfield, which seemed to suit all those against the fighter’s nomination.
Supporters of the unified title holder complained that phone lines jammed and calls were cut off during the process, which saw Fury take only just over 70,000 votes despite having over 350,000 followers on Twitter.
Murray won the day with a whopping 361,446 to take the crown for the second time during his sensational tennis career after leading Great Britain to their first Davis Cup triumph since way back in 1936 – alongside brother Jamie.
Great Britain’s tennis heroes also won the Team of the Year prize as Fury and his fans were forced to settle for a public apology, rather than gatecrashing the prestigious night with a win that would have been a highly embarrassing turn of events for the Beeb.
