By: Sean Crose
Boxing can be a divisive sport. One thing fans and followers of the sweet science can agree on, however, is the fact that Tyson Fury is frequently apt to change his mind. How many times one may ask, has the talented Fury actually announced his retirement? And how many times has he then decided to return to the ring? Fury’s most recent retirement announcement came after losing a second fight in a row to Oleksandr Usyk last year.
Yet the towering Englishman has recently said he would return to the ring for a third go round with Usyk. “If I was going to come back I’d come back for Usyk,” Fury is quoted as saying (via Sports Illustrated). “I want a fair result in England. That’d be the one I want immediately.” Sure enough Fury feels he was robbed by the judges in each of his two battles with Usyk. Perhaps that’s why no one was particularly surprised on Wednesday when Saudi Arabian sports honcho Turki Alslshikh announced that Fury and Usyk could indeed be fighting again in 2026. Perhaps there were those that even expected a third fight to go down at some future point.
“The ‘Gypsy King’ will be back!!!,” Alashik stated in a social media post. “I talked with him, and I have his word to have him in Riyadh Season in 2026 … 🥊 We have a rabbit hunt.” And so there it is. Fury may come out and deny all this of course, but one gets the feeling that even if he does deny it, he’ll be drawn back to fight Usyk next year anyway. There’s a lot of money at stake in that fight and also a lot of Glory. Even if it isn’t the most interesting battle to come down the pike after two less than thrilling affairs, Fury has a way of drawing in eyeballs and dollars.
Of course Usyk first has to get past Daniel Dubois if a third fight with Fury were to be a title bout. Dubois is a good fighter after all and after his first controversial fight with Usyk not everyone is writing him off. Still, Usyk is the favorite walking into this Dubois rematch and rightly so. What’s more, a third title fight against Fury would make for a perfect swan song for the Ukrainian legend.. provided, of course, that Fury doesn’t shock the world and pull out the win.
