Tyson Fury's boxing future is in doubt even further after the British Boxing Board of Control said it would be looking into Fury's claim in an interview with 'Rolling Stone' that he "did lots of cocaine" around the same time that reports have emerged that he tested positive for cocaine in a second drugs test.
According to the BBC, the BBBofC are set to meet on 12th October and its general secretary Robert Smith has said that Fury's admissions to the magazine "will be dealt with accordingly" and that given that cocaine use is against the law they "can't ignore the law of the land". In addition, according to the Guardian, the president of the World Boxing Organisation (WBO), Paco Valcárcel, said the organisation would also be meeting on 17th October in order to discuss Fury's recent comments regarding his cocaine use, as well as his lack of activity since winning the world heavyweight title against Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015 (Fury hasn't fought since winning the bout) - with a view to potentially stripping the Manchester native of his WBO belt.
ESPN's Dan Rafael, who broke the news of Fury's first positive sample, has reported that the result of an earlier test on Fury (conducted two days before he pulled out of a re-match with Wladimir Klitschko) confirm an earlier finding, reported in September (also by Rafael) that he had consumed benzoylecgonine (a central compound of cocaine).
The past few days have placed Fury's self-professed mental issues firmly in the spotlight, not least in his bizarre retirement and subsequent U-turn via Twitter. Speaking to 'Rolling Stone' for the piece that was published earlier this week Fury said that he has "a version of bipolar" disorder and is "a manic depressive", expressing a wish that "someone kills me before I kill myself". Fury's friend Billy Joe Saunders expressed his worry for his fellow boxer, saying Fury was "very down" and "mentally not there" and expressing worry that Fury "won't see 30-years-old."
Former world champion and manager of Carl Frampton, Barry McGuigan, has called boxing "blind" to the issues of mental illness in the sport and said he was "genuinely concerned" about Fury in an interview with BBC Radio 5 live on Wednesday. He said that treatment of mental issues needs to occur "sooner rather than later because we don't want a fatality on our hands".
