Reigning world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury's IBF belt was taken away by the said sanctioning body after the Briton signed a rematch with former champ Wladimir Klitschko instead of fighting IBF's mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov of Ukraine.

Fury, who won the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring heavyweight titles via a stunning 12-round unanimous decision victory over long-standing champion Klitschko last month in Germany, agreed to hold a second fight with Glazkov's fellow Ukrainian at still an undisclosed date and venue next year.

Like Us on Facebook

The move made IBF force him to vacate the title as its rules state that the 27-year-old Manchester native should face its number contender immediately if he wants to keep the belt.

"It's true he's been stripped of his IBF belt," said IBF championships chairman Lindsey Tucker, as reported by BBC Sport. "Our challenger was Vyacheslav Glazkov, but instead Fury's gone and signed a rematch clause with Wladimir Klitschko."

However, it should be noted that Fury's championship bout with Klitschko reportedly came with a rematch clause that the former champ said to have invoked last week.

This means that Fury had no choice but to lose his belt since he can't decide to fight Glazkov first before Klitschko even if he wants to because he has to follow the stipulation in the Fury- Klitschko contract.

With the IBF heavyweight title now vacant, Glazkov is set to compete for it against unknown opponent Charles Martin of the USA, as per Daily Mail Online.

Meanwhile, Fury is expectedly pissed off by the development and may have even presumed that his latest controversial comments were the reason why he is being stripped of his title.

"Freedom of speech is the biggest load of (expletive) ever," Fury posted in a social network site, via Boxing News 24. "If the WBA, WBO & IBO want to strip me go ahead. I have the press camped outside my house! Lol me famous. Must hurt that a Gypsy is the best fighter on the planet! #GYPSYWARRIOR. I'm going to win this year!!!!! Good always defeats evil."

Still, the IBF's decision remained final and the world heavyweight division's landscape had just been fragmented.

TagsBoxing News & Rumors, Boxing News & Rumors 2015, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Vyacheslav Glazkov, IBF Heavyweight Title