Saturday night's (April 23) Wembley blockbuster bout between the World Boxing Council (WBC) champion Tyson Fury and British challenger Dillian Whyte has been underpinned by suggestions of the involvement of Daniel Kinahan, the Dubai-based Irishman who has a $5 million (£3.8 million/€4.6 million) bounty on his head courtesy of the US Government which is seeking his arrest on grounds of international drug smuggling and money laundering.

It is alleged that he heads a cartel that has links with MTK Global, the promotional group linked to Fury and several other leading fighters.

Fury has, in the past, praised Kinahan for helping to negotiate a possible fight with former rival world champion Anthony Joshua, but he now vehemently denies any involvement with him over the upcoming contest with Whyte, which could be staged in British rain.

"Just because I had my picture taken with him [Kinahan] it doesn't make me a criminal," says the self-styled "Gypsy King".

However, veteran American promoter Bob Arum has admitted paying Kinahan several million dollars for helping negotiate Fury’s fights in the US against Deontay Wilder but now insists he has severed any connection. And Frank Warren, who promotes Saturday's mega-fight, says he has no dealings whatsoever with Kinahan.

Intriguingly MTK, who claims Kinahan's involvement ended in 2017, announced today that it will cease operations at the end of the month following the resignation of chief executive Bob Yalen who cited the "intense pressure of the last few weeks."

It's a pity, although not altogether unexpected that such a prestigious event should be tainted in this way because it is a match-up which deserves respect from the public.

And mutual respect between the combatants was clearly the order of the day when they confronted each other at today's press conference. No slagging each other off, or bad-mouthing. The usual hype was absent, just as 34-year-old Whyte has been for most of the build-up.

The bloody-minded bruiser from Brixton had hitherto declined to give interviews or cooperate with publicity believing he has been short-changed, with Fury trousering the thick end of the record £30 million ($39 million/€36 million) purse, which his which is his entitlement under WBC regulations. Even so, Whyte will walk away with £6 million ($7.8 million/€7.2 million), plus a further £3 million ($3.9 million/€3.6 million) should he win a bout screened exclusively by BT Sport Box Office.

Which bookies deem unlikely, making Fury, who is also 34, a heavy favourite.

The tale of the tape suggests the six feet nine inches Fury will be too big and too strong for Whyte. But will there be yet another twist in tale of the fight itself? Whyte hints he won't come out of the dressing room until the money is in his bank account, but fighters are traditionally paid after the contest. Fury has said this will be his valedictory fight but I can't imagine him shying away from another multi-million-dollar purse in a unifying contest against either Joshua or the man who snatched the Olympic champion’s own world title belts, the brilliant Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.

Meantime the unbeaten Fury’s gilt-edged engagement with the petulant pugilist in the opposite corner is a fight that has sold itself.

A sell-out crowd of 94,000 will pack Wembley Stadium, where ringside tickets, originally priced £300 ($390/€360) apiece, are fetching upwards of several thousand from touts.

As Fury himself admits this is not a foregone conclusion. Whyte has been beaten only by Joshua and Russia’s Alexander Povetkin, and is a go-forward fighter who can hit and hurt.

We know Fury can be floored, though he has a Lazarus-like quality to raise himself from the canvas and come back punching. He says: "I think everybody underestimated how good a fight this is going to be.

"We are both big-hitters, one punch and it’s all over. Goodnight Vienna!"

Indeed. It could be fast and furious from the bell with Whyte being stopped late in belting l contest.