By Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com has been advised the International Boxing Federation has officially stripped Tyson Fury (25-0, 18KOs) of the heavyweight title that he captured on November 28th from Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The IBF cites a violation of Rule 3 of the IBF/USBA Rules Governing Championship Contests - regarding Fury's agreement to an immediate rematch with Klitschko when a mandatory defense was due.
Fury was ordered to make a mandatory against number one rated Vyacheslav "Czar" Glazkov, but he was unable to do so due to a previously agreed-upon rematch clause with Klitschko - and Fury's team refused to work out a step-aside deal with Glazkov's promoter, Main Events. The purse bid scheduled for Friday, December 11 is now cancelled.
Fury is now left with the WBO/WBA/IBO belts, which he also acquired when winning a twelve round unanimous decision over Klitschko.
The IBF has ordered Glazkov (21-0-1, 13KOs) and number four rated Charles Martin to face each other for the vacant belt. If they are unable to reach an agreement by January 8, the IBF will call for a purse bid.
Martin (22-0-1, 20KOs) is back in action this Saturday, as part of a Premier Boxing Champion cards from San Antonio, Texas. He faces fellow unbeaten Dominic Breazeale (16-0) on the card at the AT&T Center.
Glazkov's promoter, Kathy Duva, is excited with the news. Her fighter was the frontrunner to face WBC champion Deontay Wilder on January 16th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. She withdrew Glazkov from those negotiations after the IBF had ordered Fury to face her fighter.
"We are very happy. We would have preferred to fight Tyson Fury, but he's not available and has other plans, so we'll fight for the IBF world title. We will focus on the IBF title fight with Charles Martin, and win it, and then hopefully Glazkov will get his chance to move on to bigger fights then," Duva told BoxingScene.com.