Heavyweight champ Tyson Fury has been stripped of his International Boxing Federation (IBF) crown less than two weeks after beating Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko to win four of the boxing world's five heavyweight titles.
The Briton had the IBF belt removed after it emerged that he had signed a contract with Klitschko for a rematch. The IBF contract for the fight in November stipulated that the winner would need to face Vyacheslav Glazkov as a mandatory challenger.
Glazkov will now face the American fighter Charles Martin for the vacant strap.
Fury ended the nine-year reign of Klitschko by claiming his four versions of the world heavyweight boxing title with a huge upset victory. Fury won the bout in Dusseldorf, Germany in November on points 115-112, 115-112 and 116-111. Fury stands at 25-0 for his career.
Fury's promoter told ESPN that his fighter would "put the belt in the bin" if he was forced to fight the Russian.
"If they force Tyson to fight Glazkov, it will not happen," Mick Hennessy said. "Glazkov means nothing, he has zero value."
After the fight, Klitschko was adamant that he would have a chance to win back his titles.
"There will be a rematch. It is still early and I have to process things but there will definitely be a rematch," he said.
"I couldn't show my full potential at any time. This is what I want to change in the rematch -- and I will. Failure is not an option."
After being stripped of the IBF title, Fury remains the WBA, IBO and WBO heavyweight champion, while the WBC title is held by American Deontay Wilder.
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