World boxing heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, could lose his licence after he revealed he was taking cocaine, it was learnt on Wednesday.
The 28-year-old British fighter, who claimed he had retired on Monday before retracting the comment three hours later, has also said he is suffering from depression.
But the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) general secretary, Robert Smith, has now said cocaine use is “against the law’’.
The governing body, which meets on Oct. 12, had stripped Ricky Hatton of his licence after drug use allegations.
The British boxer lost his licence in 2010 and the former two-weight world champion has reportedly sent a text to Fury “asking him to give me a ring if he needs me’’.
The BBBofC meeting has not been called exclusively for Fury’s case, but Smith said the body “can’t ignore the law of the land’’, adding: “It’s drug use and we will deal with it accordingly’’.
Both the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) — the two organisations with which Fury holds heavyweight titles — are yet to respond to the development.
The WBO and WBA are not governing bodies and can strip Fury of the title, declare the titles vacant, or he can vacate them.
Smith said: “We deal with the licence. So, in theory, if we were to suspend him they would have no choice but to strip him because he can’t defend them, can he?
“You can’t just take a man’s licence away, without taking the proper procedures, if we decide that’s the right thing to do.’’
Fury — undefeated in 25 professional fights — has not fought since November 2015 when he inflicted a first defeat on Wladimir Klitschko in more than 11 years.
The victory earned him the WBA and WBO belts, as well as the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) belts.
He was stripped of the IBF strap within two weeks as he could not face mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov, and a rematch with Klitschko has twice been postponed.
The Manchester-born fighter also faces a UK Anti-Doping hearing in November after traces of a banned substance were allegedly found in a urine sample in June.
On Monday, Fury had tweeted “I’m the greatest, and I’m also retired’’, only to three hours later post “I’m here to stay’’.
