This coming Monday, December the 11th, will be an important day for British boxing, the heavyweight division and most of all, for Tyson Fury.
UK Anti-Doping and Fury will meet up, hopefully, for the last time and try to find closure to the case that has been ongoing since June of 2016.
“It’s taken so long, so I have been led to believe, because Mr Fury’s legal team could not agree a date for the recommencement of the hearing. Now they have done, the hearing will begin,” told Robert Smith, the Chairman of the British Boxing Board of Control to Sky Sports back in November.
The hearing could a total of five days and if proven guilty, Fury could possibly face a four year ban.
After his win over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015, Fury has faced a series of setbacks, mainly losing his titles and professional boxing license. He was charged with ‘the presence of a prohibited substance’ back in June 2016 and in September of 2016 Fury failed to provide a sample for UKAD.
Smith has insisted that UKAD has been pushing for a solution despite the prolonged delay.
“From the beginning, UK Anti-Doping has pushed for resolution of the charges as quickly as possible and has invested significant resources in trying to achieve this. There are various reasons why, nevertheless, the charges have not yet been heard on the merits,” commented the Chairman of the BBBoC
Smith believes there is no reason to suggest that Fury is being treated differently from other athletes.
“It is therefore inaccurate to suggest either that UK Anti-Doping is failing to pursue these charges as quickly as possible, or that Mr Tyson Fury and Mr Hughie Fury [who was also charged] are being treated differently to other athletes,” said Smith.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcUV8O9jU1n/?taken-by=gypsyking101
A while back Fury posted a picture where it is explained why Team Fury has not been behind the delay of the hearing.
What's going on with my case so far! ππππππ pic.twitter.com/sD7VMl7TNu
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) November 23, 2017
Fury compares his situation to great Muhammad Ali who was also stripped of his titles because he was found guilty of draft evasion charges.
“Two years [I’ve been] out of the ring. They kept Ali out for three years and seven months. It didn’t affect him. He went down as the greatest. I am happy with what I achieved in my career, but there’s an old proverb, ‘You can’t keep a good man down.’ And that is what I am, a good man, and you can’t keep me down, no matter what anyone says.
“It would take some man to put Tyson Fury on his back.”
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