Tyson Fury has announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 36. This is actually not his first retirement. He initially retired back in 2013 but came out of retirement a mere three months later. It's this quick turnaround that has many people question whether this is genuine or just a temporary state on his career.
Tyson Fury first announced his retirement after a fight with David Haye was cancelled for the second time. Fury had been due to fight the former two-weight world champion in September 2013 and then in February 2014; but both were cancelled due to injuries to his opponent.
"Hi everyone, I have officially retired from boxing," Fury posted on social media. "There's too many b--- people in the sport. They will have to f--- someone else. Goodbye boxing." He then doubled down the next day: "Just to confirm I'm not in a bad mood or anything. I've retired 1000000% no matter what ill never fight again!"
Fury would then retire again on 3 October 2016. After withdrawing from a heavyweight title rematch with Wladimir Klitschko for the second time to address his mental health, Fury posted on social media that, "boxing is the saddest thing I ever took part in" and, "I'm the greatest, and I'm also retired."
While not returning to the ring for some time, Fury backtracked on the retirement hours later on Twitter, stating: "You think you will get rid of the Gypsy King that easy!!! I'm here to stay."
He did, though, vacate his WBA, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles, nine days after the tweet, pending investigation on a UK Anti-Doping case about his self-admitted cocaine use. Soon after, the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBoC) suspended his boxing licence.
He would then retire for a third time on 1 August 2017. Fury, still out of the ring since beating Klitschko in 2015, had spoken of numerous comeback attempts in 2017 before posting on social media in the summer: "Been very blessed in my life & career achieve the upmost in boxing, was an epic journey along the way. Thanks to all the fans that supported & believed in me along the way. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. THE END."
Fury, then 28, was waiting for a date for the resumption of his anti-doping hearing at the time.
In December that year, UK Anti-Doping confirmed they had agreed with Fury and the BBBoC to resolve the charges. In January 2018, the BBBoC reinstated Fury's boxing license and he returned to the ring in May 2018, defeating Sefer Seferi.
He would retire for a 4th time on 23 April 2023. Fury once again announced he was hanging up his gloves after his win over Dillian Whyte to retain his WBC title at London's Wembley Stadium, claiming - after recently completing three huge fights with Deontay Wilder: "I have fulfilled everything I've ever wanted to fulfil."
He reaffirmed his retirement with a social media post that 12 August, tweeting: "I've finally decided to walk away & on my 34th birthday I say Bon voyage." He also relinquished his Ring title on that day.
In October, another U-turn was confirmed for Fury with the announcement of a trilogy fight against Derek Chisora. He beat Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 3 December 2022.
This all leads to today, where he has retired for a 5th time. Fury's latest retirement announcement comes after back-to-back undisputed heavyweight title defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, the first of his career.
Fury cited Dick Turpin in this social media announcement, which could hint at the unanimous decision to award the fight to Usyk in December as "even Dick Turpin wore a mask" is a common expression when someone feels that they have been robbed or conned. Turpin was an infamous 18th century English thief.
The 36-year-old’s announcement came just weeks after he lost his highly-anticipated rematch against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA, WBC and WBO world titles. The Ukrainian won that fight 116-112 on all three of the judges’ scorecards – much to the displeasure of the Fury camp.
Fury’s latest defeat to Usyk set up the possibility of a titanic all-British clash with Anthony Joshua, a fight which has been talked about for years. The announcement on Monday now throws that potential fight into question, but Eddie Hearn – Joshua’s promoter – isn’t certain we’ve seen the last of Fury.
He hopes that the draw of facing Joshua in what would be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history might persuade Fury to fight again.
"You’ve got to want it. You’ve got to want to provide the British public with the biggest fight in the history of the sport. You’ve got to want to go to war with AJ (Anthony Joshua) and get that victory. If it’s just a money thing, you’ve got enough money," Hearn told BBC Sport in wake of Fury’s announcement.
"I’m always an optimist. For me, when that fight with AJ is a fight that can be made in two minutes in a room, I am always hopeful. But Tyson Fury’s earned the right to make his own decisions. If he’s done, he’s done. If not, then we make the biggest fight in the history of the sport. Only time will tell."
Fury's potential fight with Joshua looks in jeopardy.
"If Fury doesn’t want the fight, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t drag him into the fight. I don’t know whether this was a move to stop the flow of pressure because with AJ calling him out, pressure is mounting."
Fury’s manager, Spencer Brown, said the announcement came as a "huge shock" to him. "I think he’s just thought, 'That’s it'." Brown told former boxing champion George Groves, "He makes those decisions and I’m sure that will be it. Never say never but this time I can’t see it changing."
Eddie Hearn has revealed that Anthony Joshua stayed silent following Tyson Fury's retirement revelation. Boxing fans were taken aback on Monday when the 'Gypsy King' announced his departure from the boxing scene, after his loss to Oleksandr Usyk last month.
Following Fury’s announcement, influencer boxer, Jake Paul, was quick to share his thoughts on social media in a now-deleted post. Paul took to X to say, as per The Mirror: "Well, there goes the big announcement. Guess we need to refocus on the other Fury again," hinting at plans for a rematch with Tyson’s younger brother, Tommy Fury, following his controversial victory over 58-year-old Mike Tyson.
Paul, 27, fell to his only defeat so far in his short boxing career against the former Love Island contestant in February 2023 via split decision. Despite being called out by heavyweight, Daniel Dubois, who knocked out Anthony Joshua back in September and light heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev, it's reasonable to suggest that a rematch with Fury is next on the cards for Paul.
While there were a few comments from fans congratulating him on his career, the majority of the posts under his video on Instagram were of a very different nature. Boxing can be a cynical business where self-promotion is nearly as important as the fighting itself and Fury’s followers think he’s just drumming up interest in a fight against Joshua.
"See you in 6 months lad,” one fan wrote. "Strategy to gather momentum for the AJ fight," another added. A third concluded: "Fury vs Joshua announced within the next 6 months." "We all know you’re not retiring," one responder said. "Ahhh that annual retirement post. Is that time of year already?" another joked. A third wrote: "Translation: Turki [Alalshikh] I need £150m to come out of retirement and AJ needs to kiss my ring."
Pro Boxing Fans took to X to voice their thoughts. They wrote, "𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙎𝙏 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙏𝙮𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙁𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩..
Do we believe him? 🧐"
A fight between Fury and Joshua would be commercially viable, despite both Brits having suffered massive defeats in their last fights. While Fury has twice been bested by Usyk, Joshua is in an even weaker position, having been brutally knocked out by Daniel Dubois in September.
Nevertheless, Joshua has made it clear that he is ready to fight Fury later this year. "It's a fight I want to see because I am a fan of boxing. When I am in the gym, everyone is asking me [about this fight]. I ain't got many years ahead of me. I want to leave the game with a bang and make an impact," Joshua said at the Ring Magazine awards over the weekend.
"Everyone is asking me the same question. It's up to me to deliver, that's why I'm saying it has to happen this year. I think we can make this fight happen."
It’s safe to say not everyone is convinced by the Morecambe man’s announcement, however, and for good reason – it’s the fifth time in the last ten years he’s supposedly hung up the gloves.
Simon Jordan is one of the more prominent voices of disbelief, who had plenty to say about The Gypsy King’s comments, which came on the same day as the launch press conference for the stacked 22 February card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Whilst appearing on his regular talkSPORT feature, Jordan claimed the two-time heavyweight world champion was simply, "courting attention." "It’s nonsense, Tyson Fury is courting attention, it is all about Tyson Fury. Why is this announcement being made on January 13, the day they are announcing this huge fight card? What is the agenda behind it? So go away then, just come back when you want to."
"But I won’t sit there in tears saying, ‘oh I’m going to miss Tyson Fury or ‘it’s terrible for boxing’, I won’t play his game. Fantastic Tyson, you have made a lot of money from the sport, but if you want to retire, do it. If you don’t, then don’t."
"Who cares? Bye then. Does the boxing world stop because Tyson Fury isn’t fighting in the heavyweight division?" "The next generation will come through. Daniel Dubois is here, Moses Itauma is here."
It would be a bitter pill to swallow for British boxing fans if the 36-year-old is genuine this time, however, as it would scupper the chances of the long overdue showdown between himself and Joshua finally coming to fruition.
As per this post's title, this strongly reminds me of the story of the boy who cried wolf. The end of that story mimics this story. No one believes that Tyson Fury will really retire. I am of the same opinion. It's hard to trust a person who does that kind of thing. This decision, to me, is a simple knee jerk reaction to a loss.
If this is for real, I would suggest that Fury make a proper announcement that includes a press conference. Making another social media retirement video/message will most likely make everyone to roll their eyes and wave it off and/or say in a sarcastic tone, "Yeah, right."