The British Boxing Board of Control will decide in a meeting next Wednesday whether they will withdraw Tyson Fury’s licence.
Fury, the WBO and WBA heavyweight champion, was previously scheduled to earn the biggest purse of his career in a re-match with Wladimir Klitschko on October 29.
After what has perhaps been the most damaging fortnight of his career, he could instead face a lengthier period out of the ring.
In a dark interview with Rolling Stone published on Tuesday, Fury appeared to confirm reports he had tested positive for cocaine by discussing using “lots of” the drug.
The publication say that the interview took place on Monday after he took to Twitter to announce his retirement but before he back-tracked just three hours later. Five days previously it was reported he had tested positive for cocaine.
On September 30, Fury withdrew from the Klitschko re-match – having already postponed it citing an ankle injury – when a statement from his manager Mick Hennessy explained he was “medically unfit” to fight. He is also scheduled to attend a hearing in November for an alleged doping violation.
In 2010, the BBBofC withdrew the inactive Ricky Hatton’s boxer’s licence amid allegations of cocaine use, and asked of their plans for Fury, general secretary Robert Smith told Press Association Sport: “The Board meets next week and we’ll discuss it, I’m fairly sure.
“The meeting won’t be for Tyson Fury alone. We have a meeting on October 12. All of Mr Fury’s recent issues will be discussed at that point, after which we’ll see what we’re going to do.
“He is licenced by us. The sanctioning bodies, the WBO, WBA – they are not governing bodies – they can strip him, declare the boxing titles vacant, or he can vacate them.
“We deal with the licence, so in theory, if we were to suspend him they would have no choice but to strip him because he can’t defend them, can he?
“There are a number of issues with Mr Fury that need to be considered, that have been well-publicised. We’ve had other issues this weekend that have been more important than Tyson Fury (such as the death of fighter Mike Towell).”
Fury, who also became the IBF heavyweight champion the night he outpointed Klitschko 11 months ago, was stripped of that title when agreeing to a re-match instead of facing mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.
The 28-year-old retains the WBO and WBA titles but his ongoing inactivity and the withdrawal of his licence make it increasingly likely that will change.