Coronavirus: Tyson Fury defies government advice to go to the pub and celebrate St Patrick’s Day

Heavyweight world champion posed for a picture with a pint of Guinness at his local despite Prime Minsiter Boris Johnson urging the public to avoid social gatherings amid the coronavirus crisis

Tyson Fury defied the British government’s coronavirus guidelines by heading to the pub to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, despite the widespread efforts to avoid the spread of the deadly virus.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson used his first daily press conference on Monday to urge the public not to attend any social gatherings, in particular at pubs and bars, in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19.

The social distancing approach came as the United Kingdom’s coronavirus death toll rose to 71 on Tuesday night, with medical predictions expecting the number to continue to rise sharply unless these drastic measures are followed.

Yet heavyweight world champion Fury flouted the advice to enjoy a few pints of Guinness in celebration of St Patrick’s Day, even though the risk of doing so has been well documented.

Fury used his time off following his recent victory over Deontay Wilder to head to his local, The Morecambe Hotel and Restaurant, where he was recently pictured alongside promoter Frank Warren and a large cardboard cut-off of himself.

The cut-out was once again on display as Fury posed with fellow boxer Isaac Lowe along with a pint of Guinness each to acknowledge the Irish cultural celebration on Tuesday, despite being told to avoid such locations where individuals are more exposed to catching Covid-19 and passing it on to those more vulnerable.

Fury appeared in good spirits throughout the day as he posted numerous Instagram videos from his car to wish his followers a Happy St Patrick’s Day while singing along to The Dubliners’ hit ‘The Craic Was Ninety In The Isle Of Man’.

The revelations that the 31-year-old is facing a fresh UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) investigation didn’t appear to be on his mind, following allegations from a farmer that he was promised £25,000 to lie for Fury following a 2015 failed doping test. Both Fury and his cousin Hughie Fury tested positive for nandrolone that they blamed on contaminated wild boer, which Lancashire farmer Martin Carefoot alleges he was promised a large cash payment to claim that he sold it to them despite having never done so to anyone before.

Upon allegedly not receiving the payment, Carefoot contacted Fury’s promoter Warren and was dismissed with an apparent instruction to take his claims to Ukad, but instead Carefoot spoke to the Mail on Sunday to publish the allegations.

Fury has not addressed the new allegations, but Warren vehemently denied the story. “The farmer making these outrageous allegations sent me a letter last October, full of errors and basically telling me he had committed perjury by signing statements under oath and lying.

“When I called him, he asked for money. I told him to clear off and get in contact with Ukad. He chose not to speak to Ukad but instead speak to a newspaper.

“How anybody can take this man seriously is beyond belief. Tyson has never met this man in his life. What a load of rubbish. We’ll leave this with Ukad to look into and don’t expect it to go any further.”

Ukad has not commented on the development but was understood to be preparing a new investigation into the matter. Although Ukad announced “a significant reduction in our testing programme” due to the cancellation of all sport in the UK and ensuring the health and wellness of both its employees and athletes, they can still press ahead with any investigations.

A Ukad statement on Monday read: “As an organisation our ongoing responsibility remains to protect clean sport, but we must give precedence to health and welfare and act responsibly in line with government advice during this unprecedented time.

“We will continue to process intelligence and will act on that information. If anyone has information that could be of interest to Ukad and its investigations on any matter, please do contact us as usual.”