Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury sensationally hung up his gloves last month for the fifth time. The Gypsy King had suffered a second successive defeat against Oleksandr Usyk and decided to call time on his career.
However, recent talks with promoter Frank Warren have stoked the flames around whether Fury could return for an all-British mega bout against Anthony Joshua. It would earn both former world champions incredible money and has been a bout the UK public have long wanted.
Warren says that he has spoken with Fury, who endured a loss to Ukrainian heavyweight champion Usyk back in December. The fight was close, with the judges eventually awarding the bout to defending belt holder Usyk, and it ultimately prompted Fury to call time on his career.
In his retirement announcement, Fury alluded to the fact that he believes the title was stolen from him, ending his goodbye message with a reference to the infamous highwayman and robber Dick Turpin.
“Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet,” he said. “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing, it has been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it and I’m going to end with this; Dick Turpin wore a mask.”
Now, manager and promoter Warren gives the first big update since the boxer retired, saying that he’s “happy” with life beyond boxing. Speaking on The Ariel & Ade Show, when asking the question if Fury could turn his back on the sport, Warren responded that “he has.”
“At the moment, it’s false [that he will fight again]. I say that genuinely. Tyson is a very unique guy and this is how it is. I’ve spoken to him a couple of times. I’ve not bothered him and I’ve certainly not spoke to him about fighting again. If he does, that will be his choice.”
(Image: Paris Fury Instagram)
Fury has recently been seen enjoying quality time with his family, whisking them away to Disneyland Paris after he posted his retirement message. This followed three months away from his wife in an intense training camp in preparation for the Usyk fight, and a year which also saw a bad cut above his eye that cancelled the Usky fight first time around and disrupted several training camps.
“He’s been one of the best two heavyweights of the 21st century,” added Warren. “And I just want him now to enjoy his family and his life. He had a hard year last year. He needs now to go enjoy his life and enjoy being with his family, which is what he’s doing.”
Fury’s retirement announcement came just a couple of months after he had claimed he would fight until he was 50, in a bid to ‘make as much money as possible’ . The Morecambe-based fighter has seven children with wife Paris and has also spoken of the need to keep boxing for his mental health, having suffered with depression previously.
Back in October, Fury said: “My goal is to make as much money as possible and to do that I’ve got to have as many fights as I can. Until the wheels fall off this. Until I’m 50-years-old. Until I’m tripled over on a stick walking down the street like that. That’s how I’ll be. Do you know why? That’s how all the greats fighters went out. All of them.”
Despite him taking a step back from the sport, the 36-year-old is by no means in need of the money, with an estimated net worth of over £40 million. It’s one of the reasons why Warren is doubtful that the Gypsy King will get into a ring with Joshua – but he has hinted that there is one thing that will bring Fury out of retirement – his ‘fighting heart’.
“He’s a very, very wealthy guy. He doesn’t need financially to fight. If he does fight it will be because he’s got a fighting heart – for me, that is gonna be the thing,” added Warren.
“Can he walk away from the sport? He says he has and, at this moment in time, he’s said to me he’s really in a good place and he’s very happy. That for me is very important.”
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