Doctors are busy men. They are often hard to reach. Specialists keep special hours, and specialists who treat special patients can be booked months in advance.

A statement released by Hennessey Sports last week said that Fury was “medically unfit to fight,” postponing the rematch with Wladimir Klitschko another time.

“Afflicted with depression,” in the words of the London Telegraph, but not too afflicted to attend Saturday’s fight between Jorge Linares and Anthony Crolla, the current WBA-WBO Unified heavyweight champion has some explaining to do. The presidents of the WBA and WBO, not to mention 99.99 percent of fight fans around the world, would like to know what’s going on.

The WBO gave Fury 10 days for his doctors to get back to them. The clock is ticking. Failure to comply with the WBO’s request jeopardizes the title.

The WBA has been more measured in its response, but has had no more luck getting Fury and the doctors’ attention.

“We have already made two requests to Tyson Fury’s team to get the medical report,” WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza told ESPN Deportes, “so we could know his medical status in full detail.

“And regarding what actions we might take—everything will depend on the reports. He could be named a ‘champion in recess,’ the championship could become vacant, but we won’t know until we have the medical report.”

The doctor’s waiting room is filled to overflowing. The patients are standing in the hall and the line extends out into the street. While waiting for Fury’s doctors to respond to a reasonable request in a reasonable amount of time, plans are afoot for heavyweight boxing to resume, as scheduled if not as planned.

This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.