Tyson Fury's anti-doping hearing to begin on Monday

Tyson Fury has been out of action since winning a number of world titles off of Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015. Since then Fury has been stripped of all his titles as he’s battled a number of issues involving mental health, drug and alcohol abuse, and testing positive for banned substances.

Fury would end up getting his boxing license suspended by the British Boxing Board of Control, who have since been unwilling to take any further action until Fury’s case for an anti-doping violation has concluded. Fury would additionally be charged by U.K. Anti-Doping with failure to provide a sample in September 2016, after having his license suspended.

Yet the problem has been getting this UKAD hearing underway, as it’s taken an extremely long time. But BBBoC general sectary Robert Smith say Fury’s team is responsible for the hearing delay, which will reportedly begin on Monday.

"It's taken so long, so I have been led to believe, because Mr Fury's legal team could not agree a date for the recommencement of the hearing," said Smith. "Now they have done, the hearing will begin.

"From the beginning, UK Anti-Doping has pushed for resolution of the charges as quickly as possible and has invested significant resources in trying to achieve this. There are various reasons why, nevertheless, the charges have not yet been heard on the merits.”

Smith goes on to say that it’s inaccurate for anyone to suggest that Fury has been blackballed from boxing or treated differently from any other athlete.

Should Fury be found guilty of the accused violations, he could face up to a four year suspension. But even if he is cleared of the doping violation, that’s no guarantee that he’ll have his boxing license reinstated considering that there are other considerations at play.

"It is publicly known that Mr. Fury has a number of health issues and we would have to look at that," Smith concluded.

Fury has been hopeful, and vocal, about resuming his boxing career in 2018, but he still has some hurdles to clear before then.