World Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury has been stripped of one of the four belts he won when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko, the IBF title, for refusing to fight his mandatory challenger, Vyacheslav Glazkov (21-0-1, 13 KOs).
After defeating the Ukrainian in Dusseldorf, Germany in November, the IBF had announced barely 48 hours after that he would have to defend his IBF title by fighting Glazkov.
But the Briton had defended his refusal to fight Glazkov by stating that his contractual agreement with Klitschko provided for an immediate re-match not later than June 2016, a right Klitschko exercised.
As a result of Fury’s refusal, the IBF also cancelled the purse-bid for Fury-Glazkov scheduled for December 11, while sanctioning a fight between the US-based Ukrainian and contender Charles Martin (22-0-1, 20 KOs) for the IBF title stripped from Fury.