Boxing heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has reportedly tested positive for cocaine and faced being stripped of his title belts, leaving his career hanging in the balance.
According to the Guardian, ESPN quoted a letter from the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA), in which the 28-year-old was found to have traces of cocaine in a test carried out a day before he pulled out of his re-arranged rematch with Wladimir Klitschko citing mental health problems.
When contacted further VADA president Margaret Goodman said that the agency wouldn't be commenting on story and that they "do not release results publicly unless requested by the athlete".
Even if the charges are found to be true, Fury, who holds the WBA and WBO world titles, is unlikely to face a ban from competing as cocaine is not prohibited under World Anti-Doping Agency rules.
With the WBO having asked for the evidence that he was "mentally unfit" to fight his rematch, Fury faces mounting pressure and could lose one or more of his world titles before he returns to the ring.
He had rescheduled the rematch for the second time from the original July date to October 29.
Fury had defeated Klitschko last November to bag the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles. Within two weeks of his victory, he was stripped of the IBF world heavyweight championship belt after he declined to face mandatory title challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.
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