Tyson Fury says ‘it’s been a blast’ as boxing star announces retirement with cryptic message
13 January 2025, 14:43 | Updated: 13 January 2025, 14:53
Boxing legend Tyson Fury has announced his retirement after a back-to-back losses in the heavyweight division.
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He made the surprise announcement in a brief video on Instagram.
Fury told his followers: “Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet. 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.”
It comes after the 36-year-old former world champion suffered back-to-back defeats against Ukrainian fighter Olexandre Usyk.
The announcement may still come as a surprise to fans, with no clear indication that Fury was planning on hanging up his gloves.
Following his latest defeat against Usyk, Fury was adamant that he had won after the fight and wouldn't speculate as to whether he'd box again, saying: "I might do, I might not.”
But he later reportedly even told friends about his plans to stay in boxing, according to The Sun, with the heavyweight saying “it's not over”.
It comes as British star Anthony Joshua said a fight with Fury “had to happen” this year.
Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh also it clear he wanted to make the Brit-on-Brit clash.
Fury and Joshua were due to clash in 2022, while the former was still the WBC heavyweight champion but negotiations eventually collapsed.
This is not the first time Fury announced plans to step away from the ring.
In April 2022, he said he would pack it in after defeating Jamaican-born Dillian Whyte. But he came back six months later to fight Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London.
Back in 2013, he made a similar announcement when he grew frustrated after a fight with British power puncher David Haye failed to materialise.
He said at the time: "Hi everyone, I have officially retired from boxing. There's too many bent [crooked] people in the sport. They will have to f*** someone else. Goodbye boxing."
Fury also took a three-year break from boxing between 2015 and 2018, surprising many when he returned to the sport.
The father-of-seven recently reunited with his family after spending the three months away from them to train for his Usyk.
