Despite announcing his immediate retirement from boxing, Tyson Fury has been handed an August 26 deadline to officially confirm his decision in writing with the WBC.
Fury has been the WBC heavyweight world champion since defeating Deontay Wilder in February 2020, but after seemingly retiring from the sport Izquierdazo report that the World Boxing Council are in no rush to vacate his belt.
Fury announced he would hang up his gloves for the second time in his career on his 34th birthday, just four days after calling out fellow Brit Derek Chisora.
In an interview with Izquierdazo, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman confirmed the August 26 deadline, saying: ‘We had a conversation with his promoter and we gave him until 26th (August), so they can send us a written confirmation of his final decision.
‘With that, we can proceed to address the situation with the belt.
‘We will wait until August 26th. That is our deadline to have a formal confirmation of their final decision. We have no rush. He has been a big hero inside the ring and out of it.
‘We talked about that (Fury’s decision being final), we will be waiting for him in Mexico. If he confirms his retirement, we will have a big celebration for Tyson Fury.
‘He decided to say goodbye to boxing, despite being in the peak of his career. He has a beautiful family, he is enjoying life, and he still has a lot to give inside the ring and out of it’.
Fury’s announcement has been met with skepticism, notably from Eddy Hearn, who claimed that the 34-year-old was ‘insecure’ about the prospect of fighting his prize fighter Anthony Joshua.
Hearn was joined by boxing fans on social media, who claimed that Fury was looking to get back in the headlines.
Fury posted a statement saying: ‘Massive thanks to everyone who had an input in my career over the years and after long hard conversations I’ve finally decided to walk away and on my 34th birthday I say bon voyage.’
He has since vacated his Ring Magazine heavyweight title, leaving the illustrious belt up for grabs in Joshua’s much-anticipated rematch bout against Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, August 20.
