Boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury stripped off IBF title just two weeks after winning it

Tyson Fury has been stripped off the IBF title he won two weeks ago after former title holder Wladimir Klitschko exercised a clause entitling him right to a rematch if he so deemed fit.

Fury beat long-standing champion Vladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf last month to bring the Ukrainian’s four belts back to Britain. The IBF insists Fury should fight challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov and opened up a bidding process for its purse two days after Fury’s victory.

The bidding which was supposed to take place on December 11 has now become irrelevant after Klitschko exercised a clause which stated he could have a rematch for the IBF title if he wanted.

This implies the heavyweight category which has been dominated by Klitschko for nine years will now be divided as Fury will hold the WBO, WBA and IBO titles while American Deontay Wilder is the WBC champion leaving the IBF title vacant.

Speaking to ESPN, Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessy said:

‘If the IBF are going to make a belated moral judgment and strip Tyson Fury because, apparently, [Klitschko promotional company] K2 never told them about the rematch clause, surely they should be just as moral and not take the large sanction fees they are taking. ‘In my opinion, the IBF should be ashamed of themselves. First, they called for private negotiations. Cancelled. Then they called for purse bids. Cancelled. Then they strip Tyson of his title for something he had no control over. ‘Tyson as a fighter, Peter [Fury, his uncle] as a trainer and us as a promotional outfit, we did things properly. We went after the elite lineal heavyweight champion in Wladimir Klitschko. We took the hardest route of all and pulled it off big-time.’