Tyson Fury has torn into the IBF after they removed him from their heavyweight rankings.
Fury has been embroiled in a bitter feud with the major sanctioning body ever since his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015.
Fury was removed from the IBF rankings ahead of his rematch with UsykIan Walton/Matchroom
‘The Gypsy King’ was crowned the new IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight champion after scoring a stunning upset in Dusseldorf but was stripped of the IBF strap less than two weeks later.
Fury was forced to relinquish the red and gold belt after agreeing to rematch Klitschko rather than accepting the IBF’s call to face their mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.
It’s needless to say Fury wasn’t best pleased by the IBF’s decision and referred to the title his successor Charles Martin held as a ‘snide’ version.
The IBF has come under a lot of criticism over the years for forcing their mandatories and ‘ruining’ undisputed fights.
After Oleksandr Usyk defeated Fury for all four major world titles in May, he too was stripped of the IBF belt as he was contractually obliged to rematch the Mancunian so couldn’t face mandatory Daniel Dubois.
The decision was as frustrating to boxing fans as it was to Fury.
Fury told The Stomping Ground: “I’m not sure why they wouldn’t want their belt for two undisputed fights.
“I suppose it’s up to them, isn’t it? It’s their own business. That’s up to them, you know.”
Fury and Usyk are widely considered to be the two best heavyweights in the world and were separated by the narrowest of margins in their inaugural encounter.
However, while the WBA, WBO and WBC acknowledged Fury’s heroics by ranking him at No.1 in their top 15, the IBF placed him at No.6 before removing him from their ratings entirely after his rematch with Usyk was confirmed.
Fury won the IBF title against Klitschko but was stripped less than two weeks laterGetty
This is standard practice as boxing’s sanctioning bodies don’t rank fighters who are scheduled to challenge for the other major belts, meaning Fury lost his ranking because his rematch with Usyk on December 21 is for the WBA, WBC and WBO titles.
“Obviously I’m not good enough to have their belt again because they don’t rate me in the top 15 rankings,” Fury continued, seemingly unaware of the IBF rules.
“I’m not sure what’s going on with them actually. After I just paid them a s*** tonne of money to buy their piece of s*** belt. Piece of s***, the IBF’s a piece of s*** belt anyway.
“I’ll p*** on it when I get home. Daryl Peoples is a proper little tosser. That’s what I think about him.
“For a man who’s paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight for your belt, yeah?
“I’m obviously, if not the best, the second-best heavyweight on the planet. And I’m not good enough to be in their top 15? It’s a joke, isn’t it?”
When Usyk was stripped of the IBF belt, ‘interim’ title holder Dubois was upgraded to full world champion.
If Fury beats Usyk next month then the Brit may get the opportunity to box for the undisputed crown again, this time against Dubois.
However, Fury insists he would rather burn the IBF belt than fight for it.
Fury told iFL TV: “I’ll beat Daniel Dubois, but I won’t be boxing him for his belt. I’d rather box him for the British title than for the IBF, I don’t want anything to do with it.
“You couldn’t give it to me as a present. I’d probably get back home and burn it and put it on a video on YouTube, that’s how much it means to me.
Usyk was also stripped of the IBF belt after beating Fury, resulting in Dubois being upgradedMark Robinson/Matchroom
“Because they’re biased, obviously, they’re a biased company who don’t like the Gypsy King for whatever reason.
“They must be racist towards travellers or something, I’m not sure. Because it doesn’t add up. I’ve just lost a split decision to some say the pound-for-pound number one in the world, but I’m not in the top 15 of their ratings when I’ve just boxed for their belt. Does that make any sense?
“It doesn’t, does it? I’m not making it up, it’s the truth, it’s facts. If they’re not biased and they do like me, why don’t they come out and say why I’m not in their ratings then?
“I’m not good enough to be in the top 15 when I just lost to the best fighter in the world by a point? Very odd. I won’t ever be giving them an opportunity again, ever. And I’d advise everybody never to fight for their belt again, it’s s***.”
