TYSON Fury may have announced his retirement – but we’ve seen this dance before.
The Gypsy King, 36, took to Instagram on Monday to say he’s hanging up his gloves following a second defeat to Oleksandr Usyk.
PAFormer boxing champ Tyson Fury has announced his retirement from boxing[/caption]
Fury leaves the sport of boxing as a legendAP Photo/Martin Meissner
Famously, Fury has found it hard when he’s not in the ring – suffering depression and piling on the pounds
He wrote on social media: “Hey everybody, I am going to make it short and sweet. I would like to announce my retirement from boxing.
“It has been a blast and I have loved every single minute of it.
“I’m going to end with this – Dirk Turpin wore a mask.
“God bless everybody and see you on the other side.”
It’s unclear why Fury referenced the infamous highway man from the 1700s, but it offers a cryptic hint about his future.
Fury had been tipped to fight Anthony Joshua next in a highly-anticipated all-British clash, but his announcement means the bout is now off.
His career ends with a record of 34 wins, one draw and two defeats and he has been a multiple champion, having lifted the WBO, WBC, IBF, IBO and The Ring belts.
Now, his biggest battle awaits – trying to walk away from boxing for good.
In the past, Fury has struggled without the sport that made him a household name and earned him a fortune in excess of £120million.
Not his first retirement…
THIS isn’t the first time Tyson Fury has retired.
His first came 12 YEARS ago, when in 2013 he grew frustrated when a fight with David Haye fell through.
He declared 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.”
Then, he took a three-year break from the sport between 2015 and 2018, during which many didn’t expect to see him again.
In 2022 he retired TWICE.
Speaking in the ring after defeating Dillian Whyte at Wembley with a sixth-round finish, he revealed he’d made a promise to wife Paris.
He stated: “I’m a two-time undisputed world champion. [I have] £150million in the bank and nothing to prove to anybody.”
Later in the year, he stated his plan to “100 per cent” return to the ring.
But then just four days later he posted on X that he was quitting again.
He posted: “Massive thanks to everyone who had an input in my career over the years & after long hard conversations I’ve finally decided to walk away & on my 34th birthday I say Bon voyage.”
It means there will be serious doubts that his latest declaration truly means we’ll never see him in the ring again.
He famously ballooned up to 28 stone before he made his epic comeback against Deontay Wilder in 2018.
Depression, which led to alcohol, cocaine abuse, as well as suicidal thoughts contributed towards his downfall then.
Only last year, wife Paris revealed: “It was the worst few years of our lives.”
Nothing can, seemingly, fill the void of boxing, as SunSport explains. But, a life of more reality TV could be in the offing.
His darkest days
Fury was king of the ring when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko with a superb boxing display in 2015.
But, what soon followed was a mental health battle that was harder than any opponent faced.
In 2016, he was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar.
Amid struggles with depression, he soon turned to alcohol and cocaine as his life spiralled out of control.
At his lowest point he attempted to drive his Ferrari into a motorway bridge — only to stop at the last minute as he thought about his family.
APIn 2015, Fury stunned the world in a boxing masterclass over Wladimir Klitschko[/caption]
Darren Fletcher – The SunIn 2016, a topless and bleary-eyed Fury was spotted partying with England fans in Nice[/caption]
Instagram @gypsyking101At his lowest ebb, Fury considered crashing his Ferrari into a bridge[/caption]
By that point, already two years away out of the ring, his boxing career appeared over.
Incredibly, his weight ballooned as his lifestyle took control of him. He turned his back on the gym, and weighed up to 28 stone at his heaviest.
He was famously spotted at Euro 2016 buying England fans Jagerbombs after the Three Lions crashed out to Iceland.
“I needed some time off, I’d been boxing from boxing since 10, 11 years old up to 27 with no breaks. So I needed time to live a little and enjoy myself but it just went too far,” he told the Breakfast Club in 2018.
“I really don’t know what had me depressed but I knew I was just spiralling out of control. The only thing I could think of to make it better and go away for a bit was getting drunk and that just led to problems after problems after problems.”
Paris’ woes
During that period in Fury’s life, wife Paris was his rock.
She admittedly found her husband to be intolerable. “It was the worst few years of our lives,” she told INews about those lost years between 2015-2017.
Incredibly, Tyson pulled himself out of his lowest ebb by hitting the gym hard following a sudden “epiphany”.
“Within a month of being crowned world heavyweight champ, I was an emotional wreck on my way to a heart attack, thanks to a diet of Class-A drugs, junk food and alcohol,” he wrote in his book, The Furious Method.
https://www.instagram.com/kristianblacklock/Fury made a change to his lifestyle with the help of trainer Kristian Blacklock, standing to the boxer’s right[/caption]
InstagramFury revealed those two years were the hardest they faced as a couple[/caption]
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“I had my epiphany in a pub on Halloween night in 2017, hopelessly overweight and humiliated, wearing a skeleton outfit that was skin-tight and emphasised my full 28st.
“Although I had started training again, I was still drinking and going on benders and making life a misery for my wife, my children and those who were closest to me.
“Looking around the pub at people half my age I felt like a disgrace, and I knew things had to change.
“I left the pub early for a change and later that night I stood in my bedroom in my underpants, fell on my knees and cried out to God to help me.”
Fury got to work in the gym – working alongside trainer Kristian Blacklock – and miraculously shed 10 stone.
He was back in the ring in 2018, earning a credible draw in his first bout against Deontay Wilder.
Climbing off the canvas in round 12, after he was floored by a haymaker from Wilder, he showed astonishing mental courage.
However, in 2019 Fury fell out of love with boxing once again and worried Paris revealed her concerns that there is potential for him to slip into depression, once again, without the sport.
She said on their Netflix show, At Home with the Furys: “When he last stopped boxing, Tyson had an alcohol and drug addiction. He suffers from a few mental health problems. He’s got ADHD, depression, and it all spiralled out of control. We had a bad two years.
“There’s no point saying that won’t happen again because that’s the elephant in the room I think about.”
GettyFury showed incredible courage to draw with Deontay Wilder in their first fight after over two years out of boxing[/caption]
ReutersParis Fury has spoken of her fears when husband Tyson doesn’t box of him spiralling out of control again[/caption]
PAFury has since become an advocate for mental health, after his depression woes[/caption]
So what’s next?
The Dick Turpin clue might hint towards a career in WWE as a masked wrestler – think Mexican luchador.
Back on 2019, Fury made his debut in the squared circle – defeating Braun Strowman by count out.
However, it’s his career as a reality TV star that seems the most likely.
Back in 2020, Tyson Fury: The Gyspy King on ITV was the catalyst for a life on the small screen.
Sharing his life in Morecambe with Paris and their children, he now has seven, was captivating viewing.
TV gold, at least, for Netflix who signed him and his family up on a mega deal for their own Kardashian-style show.
Filming for a second series started last year, and that’s expected to drop this year.
Courtesy of NetflixAt Home with the Furys showed the family in a different life[/caption]
NetflixTyson Fury has proven to be a hit for Netflix thanks to his infectious personality[/caption]
Time will tell if this really is the end of Fury’s boxing career after his retirement announcementRex
Amusingly, Fury does embrace the mundane – so he’s partial to trips to the tip, for one.
But there’s only so many times you can visit the tip, before boredom kicks in.
As we said, Fury will find it hard to resist the urge to get back in the ring once again.
View of The Sun’s boxing expert: ‘I think it’s a ploy’
CALL ME a miserable fat little boxing cynic, but Tyson Fury’s latest retirement just doesn’t wash with me.
It wasn’t too long ago we were hearing he had a ten-fight deal with Saudi Arabia, that he was gonna fight Anthony Joshua twice, then he was going to face Joseph Parker twice.
He was planning on doing every fight in the world – there was even talk he’d rematch Francis Ngannou and do a better job.
IF he has retired, then he goes out with an incredible career having made over £300million in boxing events alone, let alone all the extra stuff.
He does so having sacrificed bundles of his own life for such success.
We know his wife Paris suffered a miscarriage going into the first Olesandr Usyk fight.
We know for Deontay Wilder III, his little girl was put in intensive care, he barely even trained for that fight, he was sleeping on the hospital floor.
IF he has retired, IF it is genuine, then it’s been an incredible career.
And for the big showman, it’s probably a nice little short sharp way to go out by just posting a video while sat inside his car.
But I can’t help but think that it’s a bit of a ploy to drive AJ a little bit crazy.
AJ was at the Ring Awards the other day and put out a social media post saying “Fury, where are you? I’m looking for you.”
It’s the only fight that AJ wants, and Fury being wise and looking at the Floyd Mayweather playbook, knows that once you retire, you have to be coaxed out of retirement.
And how do you coax someone out of retirement? Loads more readies.
The fact of the matter is, Fury has always told us: I’m a prize fighter, I do it for money, I’m gonna do it for as long as I can and make as much money as I can.
So the idea that he suddenly ducks out now doesn’t seem to ring quite true.
As Fury made the announcement, I was with Frank Warren and he said hadn’t spoken to Tyson about it today, but that he hopes that it’s true, that Fury’s done enough and made enough money.
IF it’s true, then what an incredible career.
Fury and AJ have put British boxing on the map where it’s not been for decades, not since Lennox Lewis 25 years ago.
So thank you, but rather than being at his leaving party, which I’m sure The Sun would be invited to, I suspect we’ll see him boxing AJ in Riyadh in a few months.
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