Tyson Fury has urged a former world heavyweight champion to announce his retirement from boxing.
‘The Gypsy King’ announced at the beginning of the year that he would be drawing the curtain on his professional career after suffering back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024.
The 36-year-old from Morecambe had bid to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the ‘four belt era’ last May, but was beaten via split decision by the Ukrainian superstar. Their rematch took place just seven months later, and it was Usyk who prevailed once again to keep a hold of his unified titles and cement his place in boxing folklore.
There were rumours that Fury could finally face domestic rival Anthony Joshua in 2025, although rumours of this massive heavyweight showdown were quashed after ‘The Gypsy King’ made the shock decision to walk away from the sport.
Speaking on Pound 4 Pound With Kamaru & Henry, Fury admitted that he would like to see former rival Deontay Wilder join him in retirement instead of fighting on.
“Since that trilogy we had, we took a lot of years out of each other’s lives. That war we had which ended in the 11th round by knockout, that takes a lot out of your tank and you don’t recover from fights like that. Between mine and Wilder’s trilogy, there was 10 knockdowns.
“It takes a lot out of a fighter and even when he’s come back and had a couple of fights since against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, he’s only a shadow of his former glory. The only thing that’s the same about Deontay is his name. I’d like to see him retire for sure before he does damage to himself.”
‘The Bronze Bomber’ is set to return to the ring against Tyrrell Herndon in Wichita on June 27, with the 39-year-old from Alabama bidding to reclaim the world heavyweight championship once again.
