By Marcus Richardson: Tyson Fury has officially been cleared to return to the boxing ring by the UKAD after he agreed to a backdated 2-year ban following a positive test for banned drugs. On Tuesday, the UK Anti-Doping hearing cleared the 29-year-old former heavyweight champion Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) to resume his boxing career as of midnight tonight.
The backdated 2-year ban ends at midnight tonight.
It’s good news for Fury that he’s free to return to the ring now that he’s been cleared by UKAD. It’s been 2 years since Fury last fought. He needs to take off 25 stone before he can get back into action. Fury looks noticeably slimmer, and it appears he’ll be able to take off the remainder of the weight without any problems.
Fury didn’t attend the UK Anti-Doping hearing on Monday in London. He reportedly wasn’t needed to be in attendance for that meeting.
Tyson Fury and Hughie Fury’s results from early 2015 in fights against Christian Hammer and Andriy Rudenko have been disqualified as a result of the UKAD ruling.
Fury still needs to be granted his boxing license by the British Boxing Board of Control before he can return to the ring. However, it’s expected that the BBBofC will give Fury his license to fight without any problems now that the UKAD has cleared him.
This is very good news for Fury along with Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn, who has to be jumping for joy right now. Hearn has big plans for 2018 in hopes of matching his fighters Tony Bellew and Anthony Joshua up against Fury. Bellew (29-2-1, 19 KOs) will need to beat David Haye in their rematch on May 5 for him to get a shot against Fury.
Fury has been out of the ring since his win over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015. That victory over Klitschko is the high point of Fury’s career. Fury had intended to take advantage of his increased popularity from the win over Klitschko, but unfortunately the combination of a positive drug test, injuries and mental health issues prevented him from capitalizing on his newfound fame.
Now 2 years later, Fury is finally about to cash in on his success with his comeback in early 2018. Fury says he should be back fighting in April or May. He wants to take a tune-up first, and then face Tony Bellew, possibly in the summer. A good win over Bellew will take Fury into a big money match against IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in the end of 2018. Fury is expected to make big money fighting Joshua in a fight that could be a 50-50 cut of the revenue.