When multi-time former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury recently shared a video of himself training in the gym with coach SugarHill Steward and said, “You know what’s coming,” speculation kicked off that Fury would end his retirement, possibly to face Anthony Joshua in a long-awaited U.K. super fight. Fury threw cold water on those hopes with a video posted to Instagram on Saturday.
“I hear a lot of talk of the Gypsy King returning to boxing. What would I return for? More boxing belts? I’ve won 22 of them,” Fury said. “… But I’m happy, I’m happy, contented with what I have achieved, what I’ve accomplished. I’ve been around the world and back again.”
Fury announced his retirement from boxing in January after suffering his second consecutive defeat against Oleksandr Usyk. While it may have been an appropriate time for a retirement, having been twice bested by Usyk for the first losses of his professional career, many felt it wouldn’t stick.
After all, Fury had previously announced his retirement several times:
- November 2013: Fury announces he is retired after David Haye twice withdrew from planned fights. Fury would fight three months later.
- October 2016: Fury, then a unified heavyweight champion, announced his retirement to deal with mental health struggles. He would announce he was not retired hours later, though he would follow through with a significant period out of the ring, vacating his titles in the process.
- August 2017: Fury, still out of action, again claimed he was retiring from the sport. By the end of the year, UK Anti-Doping resolved pending doping charges against Fury and the British Boxing Board of Control reinstated Fury’s license. He would make his in-ring comeback in May 2018.
- April 2022: Fury announced his retirement in the ring following a successful WBC title defense with a knockout of Dillian Whyte. He would next fight that December, beating Derek Chisora for a third time.
With talk of a fight with Joshua again heating up in recent months, it seemed as though Fury could yet again be returning from retirement.
However, Fury remained steadfast in Saturday’s video.
“And this is what retirement looks like for the Gypsy King,” Fury said while sharing the sights from his holiday in Como, Italy. “Not too shabby. I’m in no rush at all to come back boxing and get my face punched in. For what? What would I return for? I ask that question. So here we are. I’m retired and I’m staying retired. I’ve got nothing to prove to anybody and nothing to return for.”