By Elliot Foster
Tyson Fury is set to be hauled in by the UK Anti-Doping Agency in the next few weeks.
The heavyweight, who is the former undisputed world champion and recently announced his intentions to return to the ring, has been pictured training as he aims to get back into fighting shape after piling on the pounds.
But the 25-stone 28-year-old has a number of obstacles to overcome before we will see him in the ring again –– and the majority of those are out of the squared circle.
Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) has been out of the ring since personal problems ruled him out of the rematch against Wladimir Klitschko last October, but he took to Twitter last Monday to confirm the news that he will make his comeback from an 18-month hiatus on May 13, exclusively live on BT Sport and BoxNation, at the First Direct Arena in Leeds.
However, any hope of that happening was quickly dashed after the general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, Robert Smith, did an interview on talkSPORT in which he said that ‘The Gypsy King’ “is still suspended” and “is not in a position to box.”
The suspension imposed on Fury by the BBBofC is pending an investigation into an anti-doping violation of self-confessed cocaine abuse.
And Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, confirmed in a recent interview with talkSPORT, from March 9, that the undefeated man is set to go in front of a judging panel on May 8.
“He has got a couple of hurdles to get over,” Warren told Mark Saggers and Gareth A. Davies on the station’s Kick Off boxing special.
“He’s got his hearing with UKAD on May 8 and that will determine how quickly he is back in the ring.
“If it’s found to be that he has no case to answer then he will be [back] in [the ring] straight away, [but] if not then we’ll see where it goes.
“He really, really does want to get back in the mix and the bottom line is that he is the best heavyweight out there.”
Further details regarding the potential May 13 return of Tyson Fury will be revealed in due course.