Fury could have boxing licence back in weeks
TYSON Fury could have his boxing licence reinstated by the British Boxing Board of Control as early as next month.
UK Anti-Doping has cleared the 29-year-old Manchester heavyweight to return to the ring following his acceptance of a backdated two-year ban over a positive test for a banned steroid.
The former world heavyweight champion, who has denied any wrongdoing, has spoken of his desire to ‘reclaim the world titles which are rightfully mine’ but can only again box with the permission of the BBBC.
The BBBC announced yesterday: “Tyson Fury’s boxing licence suspension will be considered by the stewards of the board in January.”
In a statement they also added that Tyson’s cousin and fellow heavyweight Hughie’ has no outstanding matters with the BBBC at this time,’ but general secretary Robert Smith revealed they are yet to hear from the Fury camp.
Before he makes any return, Tyson will need to appear before the BBBC so that he can be assessed both physically and mentally.
Smith hopes the fighter can rediscover the condition and abilities that won him the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles from Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, but stressed it should not be overlooked that he had violated UKAD’s rules.
“Before the boxing licence suspension is lifted he would have to appear before the Board,” said Smith. “There’s a number of matters – there’s his mental health issues, he’s admitted he took cocaine.
“We’ve got to speak to Mr Fury and his management, which we haven’t done.
“If they contact us we can hopefully get it wrapped up in January. I presume we’ll be hearing from them shortly.
“A discussion will take place in January whether we hear from him or not, but the sooner we do, the better for everybody. We (also) have to be satisfied about Tyson’s physical well-being, that he is fit to fight, and that’s not just medically, that’s physically as well.
“It’s well reported he’s not in physical condition to return straight away, so he’s got a bit of work to do.”
The fact that many people continue to consider Fury the lineal champion, given the loss of his titles came through circumstances outside of the ring, means his potential return has been widely encouraged.
Smith, however, stressed that despite the resolution with UKAD, it is important other fighters avoid repeating their mistakes.
“As a sport we all need to learn something from this,” he said. “It’s quite clear what UKAD had said: they deemed him (Fury) to have violated their rules. They may deny that but they deem him to have done that, and they have admitted to the sentence.
“All boxers need to consider any aspect with regards to doping very, very seriously. We hold seminars, three or four over the past four years, and they’re very poorly attended by boxers. We are very, very serious about anti-doping, and so should they be.”