Fury loses Ring Magazine title after missing deadline

TYSON Fury has been stripped of his Ring Magazine heavyweight title.

The Manchester fighter had to announce a comeback fight against a high-quality opponent by Wednesday in order to keep hold of his belt, but failed to do so.

He won the Ring Magazine heavyweight title back in November 2015 when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision in Germany, but his long period of inactivity means he hasn’t fought since then and also went through a legal dispute with UK-Anti Doping.

In a statement, the Ring Magazine said: “There have been a variety of obstacles which prevented Fury from defending the championship over the past 26 months. Among them was the ill-fated Klitschko rematch, Fury’s mental health issues, a UKAD investigation and the revocation of his British boxing license.

“With all these issues now cleared, The Ring set a deadline for Fury to reveal an opponent.

“However, no such announcement has been made by the fighter’s promoter, hence the decision to remove Fury as champion. Fury will also be removed from the Ring heavyweight rankings for the time being.

“For the record, the vacant Ring heavyweight championship will not be on the line in the IBF, WBA and WBO title unification bout between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker, which takes place in Cardiff, Wales, on March 31.”