Tyson Fury Ordered By WBO To Give Health Status Update Or Risk Losing Belt
Tyson Fury‘s sudden cancellation of his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko for the second time could get him in trouble in regards to keeping his heavyweight belts.
Fury’s reason for cancelling the fight is that he is medically unfit to compete, but the exact reasoning has not been made official. The WBO, one of the several governing bodies of the sport of boxing of which Fury holds their world heavyweight title said that Fury must give an update on his health status or risk being stripped of the belt.
The WBO wrote to Fury’s camp on September 26 that he has until October 6 to give an update on his health and what exactly his health issues are. Otherwise, the organization will “evaluate [Fury’s] condition appropriately within the division and to consider [his] status consistent with our world championship rules.”
“We are very sorry to hear the reports that you have allegedly pulled out of the October 29th bout due to a serious depression you are being treated for,” the WBO said. “Please know that all at the WBO are concerned for you and wish you the best for a full and complete recovery.”
Amongst the things the organization passed along was Rule 19, a rule within the organization that states if a champion cannot defend his title within a mandated time frame “because he is physically disabled for a justified cause, and said disability has been verified and accepted by the world championships committee, the champion may be granted a reasonable time to recover from the disability and retrain to competitive condition, which shall not in total exceed 180 days. The disability extension will be granted only if the committee determines based on competent medical advice that the champion is reasonably expected to recover from his disability within the maximum allowable term of the disability extension.”
Fury defeated Klitschko back in November to win the WBA (Unified), WBO, IBO, The Ring magazine, and lineal heavyweight titles. The two were supposed to fight back in June, but an injury to Fury forced the fight to be postponed for October before the second cancelation.
