By Patrick McHugh: The World Boxing Organization has reportedly sent a letter to IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury to have his medical doctor explain to them about the status of his medical problems relating to him pulling out of his scheduled October 29 title defense against Wladimir Klitschko.
The WBO has given Fury 10 days to have the information relayed to him. Presumably, if the information isn’t received by the WBO or if they’re not satisfied with the information their given, they’ll strip the 28-year-old Fury of his WBO strap. It’s unclear what the WBA will be doing.
It wouldn’t be surprising if they choose the same route, as there is a potential big money fight between Klitschko and IBF belt holder Anthony Joshua available if the WBA or WBO sanction the fight once the titles have been stripped from Fury if he doesn’t vacate the belts.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn doubts that Fury will ever fight again. He was hoping Fury would face Wladimir and beat him in the rematch on October 29 so that he could match Joshua against him in an all British match-up. However, Hearn believes that Fury is done and won’t be back in the sport of boxing. Hearn now wants to match Joshua and Klitschko this year or in early next year.
Here’s the WBO’s letter sent to Fury via skysports.com:
“We would appreciate that the physician specifically clarifies the nature and extent of your condition and your prognosis for return to training and your return to competition. If the Championship Committee does not receive the complete requested information, i.e. the Interim Certification, together with the Psychological and/or Mental Evaluation, within the allotted time frame of 10 days, the Committee will proceed with the necessary appropriate action without the benefit of an appeal.”
It appears that the WBO is getting ready to strip Fury of his WBO belt. If Fury and his medical doctor can’t give an estimate to when he’ll be back inside the ring to resume defending his WBO title, it’s quite likely the belt will be stripped from him by the sanctioning body, because they need to know when he’s going to be able to resume his career if ever if he’s going to be holding onto their title. What the WBO doesn’t need is for Fury to stay inactive for a number of years while sitting on their title.
Fury hasn’t fought since beating Wladimir by a 12 round decision last November in Dusseldorf, Germany. Fury put on a lot of weight after winning the title. When he did start training for the rematch, he appeared to be doing a good job of taking the weight off. However, with five weeks to go before the fight, Fury suddenly pulled out of the rematch with Wladimir. His trainer Peter Fury said they would give the boxing public information about Fury’s problem on Tuesday of this week.