Tyson Fury has been stripped of his IBF belt ten days after beating Wladimir Klitschko to become the heavyweight champion of the world. The 27-year-old Manchester fighter still holds the WBA and WBO belts (the WBC belt is held by American Deontay Wilder) but he forfeits the IBF title for accepting a rematch with Klitschko next year, rather than first fighting the IBF’s mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.

Fury beat Klitschko on points in Dusseldorf on 28 November and while most of the focus since then has been about whether he should be thrown off the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist, Fury finds himself sanctioned by the IBF.

“It’s true he’s been stripped of his IBF belt,” confirmed Lindsey Tucker, championships chairman at the IBF. Speaking to the BBC, he added: “Our challenger was Vyacheslav Glazkov, but instead Fury’s gone and signed a rematch clause with Wladimir Klitschko.”

Glazkov, like Klitschko, a Ukrainian, has won 21 of his 22 professional fights and is regarded as a worthy challenger, but the decision of the IBF illustrates the political complexity of world-title boxing. Fury’s contract for last month’s title fight with Klitschko contained a rematch clause, and unsurprisingly Klitschko – who was dethroned after 11 years – has invoked the clause, although the date and the venue for the sequel have yet to be decided. The IBF decision infuriated Fury’s camp, with his uncle, Peter, telling IFL TV: “It’s just politics. Tyson should not be losing his belt. He is the proper champion and the IBF should want him to have the belt, rather than giving it up so people on a much lower scale can fight for a bogus title.”

With Fury stripped of the IBF belt, Glazkov will fight American Charles Martin for the vacant title, while the Englishman prepares for his rematch against Klitschko. In the meantime Fury might also be interviewed by the Greater Manchester Police after they confirmed they were investigating an allegation of a hate crime. A spokeswoman for the GMP said on Tuesday: “At 10.30am this morning, we received a report of a hate crime following comments made about homosexuality on the Victoria Derbyshire programme. As with all allegations of hate crime, we are taking the matter extremely seriously and will be attending the victim’s address to take a statement in due course.”

Source Theweek newspaper.

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