The last of Tyson Fury's heavyweight titles won from his 2015 upset of Wladimir Klitschko has been stripped.
Fury, who has not fought in more than two years, has been stripped of the Ring Magazine heavyweight title. The boxing publication's title does not belong to a single governing body such as the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF, but most in the boxing community hold the Ring Magazine title to be on par with the four aforementioned titles in terms of prestige.
The announcement was made on the magazine's website, saying that it gave Fury a deadline of January 31 to announce an opponent or be stripped of the title and would be dropped from the rankings. Fury had the option of defending the title against someone who wasn't in the top five rankings in the Ring's rankings due to most fighters at the top of the rankings are already busy with other fights.
THE RING set a deadline (January 31) for Fury to reveal an opponent. However, no such announcement has been made by the fighter?s promoter, hence the decision to remove Fury as champion. Fury will also be removed from THE RING heavyweight rankings for the time being.
Fury reacted to the news on Twitter, which can be seen below.
Fury still does not have an opponent for a planned April return to the ring. He was recently cleared by both the UKAD and British Boxing Board of Control to resume fighting after numerous failed drug tests in the past couple of years caused a lengthy suspension, which was the recent for his inactivity.
As for the status of the now vacant title, the magazine announced that the March 31 bout between WBA and IBF champion Anthony Joshua (Ring No.1 heavyweight) and WBO champion Joseph Parker (Ring No. 3) will not be for the vacant Ring title as WBC champion Deontay Wilder (Ring No. 2) deserves a shot at the title based on merit.