In a short video posted to his social media, boxer Tyson Fury has announced, once again, that he will be retiring from the sport: “Hi everybody, I’ll make this short and sweet, I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing.”
Former boxing heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury recently announced his retirement from the sport, and this is not the first time. Fury posted a quick video to his Instagram account where he said: “Hi everybody, I’ll make this short and sweet, I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing.
The announcement came just weeks after the 36-year-old athlete lost his rematch against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk for the WBA, WBC, and WBO world titles.
In his announcement, according to CNN, Fury also made a reference to Dick Turpin, an English robber and highwayman whose criminal history gained him notoriety in the early eighteenth century. However, the reference was slightly confusing.
“It’s been a blast and I’ve loved every single minute of it. I’m going to end with this: Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, I’ll see you on the other side.”
In Fury’s fight with Usyk, Fury’s loss is the only defeat of his professional career which consisted of 34 wins and one draw. While the news of a high-profile boxer retiring would usually be received with large reactions, this isn’t the first time Fury has made this type of announcement.
Back in 2022 after beating Dillian Whyte, Fury announced he was retiring only to come back to the sport six months later. He also made retirement announcements in 2013 and 2017.
Due to these previous announcements, the reaction to Fury’s recent Instagram video was less than convincing. In fact his recent defeat set up a potential match against Anthony Joshua, a fight that would be highly anticipated.
Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said he hopes Fury sticks around, as the match against Joshua would be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history, according to reports.
“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,” Heard said to BBC Sport.
“Tyson Fury 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.”
“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.”
Spencer Brown, Fury’s manager, said that his retirement announcement was actually a “huge shock.”
“I think he’s just thought, ‘That’s it.’ He makes those decisions and I’m sure that will be it. Never say never but this time I can’t see it changing.”
With this retirement announcement and Joshua recovering from a recent defeat itself, the state of the heavyweight division in British boxing is in an unpredictable state at the start of 2025. Only time will tell how it progresses,and if Fury genuinely meant what he said regarding leaving the sport.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
