World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury stripped of IBF title

Fury has been embroiled in controversy in recent days after he compared homosexuality to paedophilia.

London:World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury`s uncle and trainer says the decision to strip the British fighter of one of his three titles is "absolutely scandalous".

The 27-year-old, whose comments about homosexuality and women have provoked almost as many headlines as his feats inside the ring, was relieved of his IBF belt after agreeing to a contracted rematch with the Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko instead of fighting the IBF`s mandatory challenger.

"It`s true he`s been stripped of his IBF belt," Lindsey Tucker, IBF championships chairman, told the BBC on Tuesday.

"Our challenger was Vyacheslav Glazkov, but instead Fury`s gone and signed a rematch clause with Wladimir Klitschko."

In an interview in Boxing News, Peter Fury said: "It`s absolutely scandalous. I`ve not spoken to Tyson yet but we`re dealing with it.

"But we`ve got a rematch that we`re tied to. We have to take that fight. A fight of this magnitude, the IBF should only be too happy to be involved in such a megafight."

Fury, who still holds the WBA and WBO versions of the title, has been shortlisted for the BBC`s prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award -- a move widely criticised after his controversial comments on a range of topics.

An online petition calling on the BBC to deselect him because of comments widely seen as homophobic has now gathered close to 100,000 signatures.

On Wednesday Britain`s Sports Journalist`s Association (SJA) said it had withdrawn its invitation to Tyson Fury to attend next week`s British Sports Awards.

"The decision was made as a consequence of threats made by Fury against at least one sports journalist, an SJA member, who has written about the boxer`s repugnant comments on homosexuality and women," the SJA said in a statement.

Greater Manchester Police confirmed on Wednesday that they had received a report of "hate crime" in connection with comments made by Fury on a BBC programme.

Responding to the latest controversies on Twitter, Fury said on Wednesday: "Freedom of speech is the biggest load of Shite ever, if the WBA&WBO&IBO want to strip me go ahead."

American Deontay Wilder holds the WBC belt.