Tyson Fury doping ban: Promoter of wronged opponent calls for rematch and hits out at ‘disappointing’ Ukad

The promoter of Christian Hammer, the boxer who fought Tyson Fury immediately before the heavyweight’s positive test for a banned steroid, has called for an immediate rematch and criticised UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) for their “disappointing” lack of contact over the issue.

On Tuesday, Ukad handed Fury a backdated two-year ban for testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone in February 2015, immediately after his successful WBO international title defence against the Romanian.

However he was not charged by Ukad until June 2016, by which time he had defeated Wladimir Klitschko on points to become the unified heavyweight champion of the world.

As part of the compromise deal that was agreed between Ukad and Fury, his victory over Hammer is to be scratched from his record as a result of the failed test. The Ukad statement that was published on Tuesday adds: “All titles, prize money and ranking points that [Fury] secured as a result of his victory in that fight are forfeited.”

However Hammer’s promoter, Erol Ceylan, told The Independent that nobody from either Ukad or the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) had attempted to contact them to explain the results of the disciplinary proceedings brought against Fury, leaving them in confusion over their legal rights and the status of the fight.

“Nobody has contacted us about today’s decision, nobody at either UK Anti-Doping or the British Boxing Board of Control,” Ceylan said from Russia, where Hammer is preparing to fight Alexander Povetkin for the WBO and vacant WBA International Heavyweight titles.

“We have been very disappointed in how both Ukad and the BBBoC have treated us. They have not acted well because we have not been provided with any of the correct information or even been kept informed.

“They were in contact with us before but things have now gone quiet and we need to be advised on our rights.”

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Ceylan also said that Hammer had been “suspicious” of Fury after the fight and was taken aback by the British heavyweight’s punching power, among other things.

Hammer was dropped to the canvas by Fury in the fifth round of the fight, which took place at The O2 Arena in London, and eventually retired after the eighth. The defeat was the fourth of his professional career and ended a 10-fight winning streak that had seen him rise to number 3 in the WBO rankings.

“In the first fight Christian was shocked by Fury’s power and by how much speed and agility he had in that fight,” Ceylan said. “He very much had his suspicions because he was hitting very powerfully. We found the Fury team to be not that bad at all, but yes it is fair to say there were doubts.

“What is also disappointing is that many times since Fury has spoken about his sense of sporting fair play, but they have not reached out to us once since that fight, even after everything.”

Despite their current confusion, Ceylan has said Hammer would definitely be interested in a rematch with Fury to find out who is the better heavyweight once and for all.

Since his fight with Fury, Hammer has fought and won five times, and stopped the British heavyweight David Price earlier this year.

Fury has outlined that he wants to fight five times in 2018 as he looks to get his career back on track and Ceylan hopes that one of those contests will be against Hammer.

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He added: “Of course we want the rematch.

“We always have to travel to other countries to fight so it is not always easy for us but we have to feel optimistic that we will be granted a rematch which is fair. But first we must find out more about this situation, and Christian must beat Povetkin.”

When contacted by The Independent, a Ukad spokesperson said: “This was a very complicated case and we had to wait for due process to be carried out. As such it would have been impossible to provide running updates to every interested party.”