This Monday afternoon, Tyson Fury announced his retirement from boxing for the third time in a fresh bombshell statement.

He announced in a short video which he posted on social media on Monday afternoon.

“Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet,” he said to the camera. “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing.

“It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it. I’m going to end with this. Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side. Get up!”

Last month, he lost his rematch for the WBA (Super), WBO and WBC world heavyweight titles against Oleksandr Usyk.

The 36-year-old Briton had earlier announced his retirement after beating Dillian Whyte in 2022 but returned six months later. He had also announced retirements in 2013 and 2017 on social media, but both were short-lived.

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Tyson Fury has been told the “only fight” left for him, after his unanimous points decision defeat by champion Oleksandr Usyk in a world heavyweight boxing title bout, is an all-British clash against Anthony Joshua.

Fury, like Joshua a former world heavyweight champion, was beaten on all three judges’ scorecards by 116-112 at the end of his second consecutive loss to Usyk, the World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council and World Boxing Organisation title-holder.

Fury, 36, refused to say if he would fight on following the Dec 21 loss in Riyadh, saying “who knows?” when asked if he would extend his career.

But Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, believes a “Battle of Britain” clash at Wembley could still be a sell-out fight, even though his fighter is also coming off a loss – Joshua was knocked out by International Boxing Federation champion Daniel Dubois in September.

“The reality is there’s only one fight for Tyson Fury and that’s Anthony Joshua. It’s the biggest fight in the history of British boxing and everyone will want to see it,” Hearn told DAZN.

“That wasn’t a Tyson Fury who looked finished. It wasn’t a flat performance. It wasn’t a poor performance. He didn’t look gun shy or like his punch resistance was in question.

“Tyson Fury is still potentially at the peak of his powers, just not good enough to beat Oleksandr Usyk.

“For me AJ against Fury is the one. One at Wembley and then back out here for Riyadh season. I will be pushing His Excellency (Saudi Arabia’s boxing powerbroker Turki Alalshikh) to make the fight.”

Fury was convinced he had won and claimed his opponent “got a little Christmas gift” from the judges, while his promoter, Frank Warren, said he was “dumbfounded” by the scoring on Dec 21.

Despite conceding 25kg in weight and 15cm in height, the impressive Usyk landed more and better punches with greater accuracy than Fury.

“Thanks to everyone who came and supported me,” said Fury.

“We move on. We go now into a new year and whatever that brings, we’ll see.

“The fight’s done now, it’s in the past. I’ve not got a decision. It is what it is and we move on. I’ll go home to my family. I’ve not seen my kids for 12 weeks.

“You can’t change decisions, I’ve done the best I could. If I could have done any more, then I would have done. And that’s it.”

-AFP

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British heavyweight Tyson Fury said the judges made a mistake in awarding a unanimous decision win to Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine in their clash for the WBA (Super), WBO and WBC titles at the Kingdom Arena on Saturday night, claiming he should have won.

Fury fell to the second defeat of his professional career, both of which have come against Usyk, as he missed the chance to win the belts despite a much better performance in a rematch of their May bout, which he lost by split decision.

“I was quite confident. I thought I won that fight again… I thought I’ve won both fights. But then again, I’ve gone home with two losses on my record now, so there’s not much I can do about it,” Fury told a press conference.

“I can just fight my heart out and do the best I can, but again, I’ll always believe until a day I die, I won that fight.”

Fury said he had been on the front foot all night, but in truth Usyk, who gave up big advantages in terms of height, weight and reach, was the more dominant fighter for the majority of the contest as he scored another decision win.

“It is what it is. I’m not going to cry over spilled milk, it’s happened now. I know boxing, I’ve been in it all my life. You can’t change no decisions, but I’ll just always feel a little bit hard done-by. Not a little bit actually – a lot,” Fury said.

The 36-year-old waved away talk of what is next for him after his second straight defeat.

“I’m going to go home and have a good Christmas, I’ve been away 12 weeks, I put a lot of work in for this fight, I’m going to go home now and enjoy it,” he said.

-Reuters

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