Tyson Fury has announced his retirement from boxing, yet again, in a 17-second posting on Instagram which he released just hours before a major press conference in London to publicise next month’s heavily hyped Riyadh bill which includes Daniel Dubois’ IBF world title defence against Joseph Parker.
It could be a typical ploy from Fury to divert attention from other heavyweights but, following two punishing fights against Oleksandr Usyk last year, both of which he lost narrowly, he might have chosen to get out of the brutal fight business with his faculties intact and more money than he can spend in the coming years.
Fury is still aggrieved by the result of his rematch with Usyk last month, as all three judges scored the fight in favour of the Ukrainian by identical margins of 116-112. “I think he got a Christmas gift from those judges,” Fury said of Usyk in the immediate aftermath and, in his retirement statement, he appeared to imply he had been robbed by making a cryptic allusion.
Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, admitted to the Guardian that he had not been expecting the announcement. “We have to respect Tyson for all he has done in boxing, and for his decision,” Warren said. “But it’s also important to remember that Tyson deals with his bipolar. He has done incredibly well over the years, coping with it, but the way he feels today might be different to the way he feels a few months from now.”
