Former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is ready for a return to the ring, even though his future as a professional boxer is uncertain.
Fury had been active on social media, saying he is ready to come back after a litany of personal issues caused him to surrender his championship belts right before a rematch with former champion Wladimir Klitschko could be finalized. He said the only reason some boxers are world heavyweight champions are because he vacated those titles.
Fury is likely referring to current WBO champion Joseph Parker, IBF champion Anthony Joshua and former IBF champion Charles Martin, all of which won titles that previously belonged to Fury. Fury was stripped of the title by the IBF for being unable to grant a fight to the mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov, due to agreeing to a rematch with Klitschko.
Parker won the WBO title on December 10 when he beat Andy Ruiz in Parker's native of New Zealand. As of this writing, Fury's WBA and IBO titles are still vacant, but those titles will be on the line when Klitschko and Joshua meet at Wembley Stadium on April 29, 2017. Joshua's IBF title is also on the line in that fight.
Fury's professional and personal life has been in a tailspin since his positive cocaine test, subsequent title vacancies and "retirement." Fury shocked the boxing world when he got a unanimous decision victory over Klitschko on November 28, 2015, ending the Ukrainian's 11-year undefeated streak where he was the sport's heavyweight king.
