Controversial English boxer Tyson Fury has vowed to put a “nightmare” 2016 behind him and come back to “take over” 2017.

In a post to Twitter, the former heavyweight champion from Manchester, England, told his 521,000 followers: “Merry Christmas guys I've had a nightmare 2016 done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of! But my promise to u is I'll return 2017 takeover. Xxx”

Merry Christmas 🎄guys I've had a nightmare 2016 done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of! But my promise to u is I'll return 2017 takeover. Xxx😍 — GYPSYKING (@Tyson_Fury) December 24, 2016

Fury endured a torrid 2016 in which he twice pulled out of a rematch at his hometown Manchester Arena against Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, the man he beat for the lineal heavyweight championship on November 28, 2015.

That night, the fighter who calls himself ‘Gypsy King’ bested long-reigning champ Klitschko by unanimous decision in Germany to take the Ukrainian’s WBA Super, IBF, WBO and IBO world heavyweight title belts.

However, when Fury was included in the shortlist for the coveted BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award for 2015, a petition was created to omit the outspoken boxer. Critics cited comments Fury had made earlier in the year, including derogatory statements about homosexuality.

After the first rematch with Klitschko was called off, Fury was pictured enjoying some down time while attending 2016 UEFA European Championship games in France with England supporters, for whom he reportedly bought a €1,000 ($1,039) round of ‘Jagerbombs’.

Tyson Fury in France this summer: "I want to stay here and sniff all your gear!"pic.twitter.com/OC9wSd6RTI — BigSport (@BigSportGB) October 1, 2016

A rescheduled date was also canceled and Klitschko will now face Briton Anthony Joshua at Wembley Stadium on April 29. Joshua currently holds the IBF title that was stripped away from Fury in December 2015 by the organisation - ironically because Fury had agreed to face Klitschko.

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Fury failed two Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) drugs tests on September 21 and September 22, 2016, in which his sample showed positive for cocaine. The failed tests came after the fighter admitted in a Rolling Stone interview that he had "done lots of cocaine."

To make light of the incident, Fury published a mock photo of his face superimposed onto the famous film character and cocaine addict Tony Montana from the film "Scarface" accompanied by the hastag #TysonMontana.

Shortly after, in October, Fury voluntarily gave up his world belts, in what he called "the hard and emotional decision to now officially vacate my treasured world titles"

But despite the tomfoolery, Fury also struggled outside of the ring with mental health issues, after being diagnosed as suffering from a version of bipolar syndrome and being a manic depressive.

The issues had kept him out of the sport and had led to the aborted rematches with Klitschko.

He received support from many figures in the sport and was encouraged to deal with his problems in private before returning to the ring.