I feared Tyson Fury would 'end his life' two weeks ago, says Billy Joe Saunders

British boxer Billy Joe Saunders has admitted that two weeks ago, he feared he would receive a phone call saying heavyweight champion Tyson Fury had ended his life.

Fury had earlier admitted that he has been drinking and taking a lot of cocaine to help him deal with depression after pulling out of his planned rematch with Wladimir Klitschko.

The 28-year-old heavyweight champion, who has already been stripped of his titles, now faces fear of losing his boxing license from the British Boxing Board of Control.

Saunders, however, believes that the step would harm Fury in his current state, and, he has, therefore, urged the authorities to think twice before making the decision.

He said it would be a big mistake if his boxing license is taken away from Fury because it's like taking food from a baby.

"He needs his boxing license to pull through what he's going through now. He's in a considerably bad, bad place," he said.

"Two weeks ago I genuinely feared he was going to get a phone call to say he has ended his life. This last week or so he's starting to get a group again. He has good people around him and he's getting the right help. But if his license gets taken away from him, I genuinely fear for him. I don't know which way he'll go," the Mirror quoted Saunders as saying.

Fury had defeated Klitschko last November to bag the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO titles. Within two weeks of his victory, he was stripped of the IBF world heavyweight championship belt after he declined to face mandatory title challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.