World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury could face an eight-year ban from boxing if found guilty of tampering with the initial UK Anti-Doping investigation into his positive test for a banned steroid.
Fury and his cousin Hughie, a former world title challenger, tested positive for nandrolone in 2015 but blamed eating uncastrated wild boar.
Both fighters eventually accepted backdated two-year doping bans in 2017 following a lengthy investigation from UKAD.
The drawn-out case left UKAD fearing it could be made insolvent due to the escalating cost.
Preston farmer Martin Carefoot has now claimed to have been offered £25,000 to take responsibility for selling ‘Team Fury’ the meat, with UKAD now set to investigate the allegation.
And should the WBC title holder be found guilty of tampering with the initial investigation, it would count as a second offence and could therefore result in an eight-year ban from the sport.
Carefoot told the Mail on Sunday: “I have never kept wild boar. I just went along with it, and they dangled this carrot I was going to get paid.”
But promoter Frank Warren, who did not represent Fury at the time, told The Sun in response: “This man wrote me a letter last October, full of errors, asking for money.
“Tyson has never ever met this man and his story is total bulls***.”
While WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman also sided with Fury when responding to The Sun: “Personally, I prefer to believe Tyson Fury ahead of someone who has already admitted to lying in legal documents for financial gain.
“The person who has claimed he accepted money to lie should be the one on trial, in my personal opinion, especially when he has waited five years to tell his story.”
Fury became a two-time world champion last month when he dethroned Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas in their explosive rematch.
The Briton claimed the WBC crown by knocking the American down twice before a seventh-round stoppage.
With all four legitimate heavyweight world titles in the UK, an undisputed fight against compatriot Anthony Joshua is on the cards for this year.
However, Wilder has already exercised his contractual right to a third fight with Fury, set for 18 July back in Las Vegas.
It remains unclear whether the coronavirus pandemic could impact the trilogy though, with the Nevada State Athletic Commission forced to suspend all combat sporting events indefinitely.
