If there was ever one profession in which a retirement announcement should be met with a grain of salt, it’s boxing.
Over the years, we’ve seen so many comebacks from boxers who have stated that they’ll never set foot in the arena again that it’s hard to believe any boxer who claims that he’s put his gloves on for the last time.
On Saturday, after knocking out Dillian White in the sixth round, WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said that it was time to make good on the promise he made to his wife to call it a career.
“I promised my lovely wife, Paris, of 14 years that after the Wilder 3 fight, that would be it. And I meant it,” said Fury. “We had a war. It was a great trilogy. And I meant that. But I got offered to fight at Wembley at home, and I believe that I deserved — that I owed it to the fans, I owed it to every person in the United Kingdom to come here and fight at Wembley.”
“Now it’s all done,” Fury continued. “And I have to be a man of my word. And I think this is it. This might be the final curtain for ‘the Gypsy King.’ And what a way to go out!”
Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, said that he would support any decision that Fury makes.
“If it was going to be the last fight, it’ll be the last fight. That’s his decision, he’s the guy getting in the ring. And if it is his last fight he has gone out on such a high,” Warren said on Saturday.
Fury has done it all in his illustrious career, holding a ridiculous 32-0-1 record, and the title of the best boxer of a generation.
“I’ve done everything asked of me,” Fury said at the post-fight news conference. “I’ve done more promotion, more interviews than anybody, and I go above and beyond with all these shows I fight on, so I definitely deserve to be able to make a choice where I think it benefits me most.”
“I’ve given 20 years to boxing, amateur and professional,” he continued. “I’ve had me brains knocked out. I’ve been put down, I’ve been rocked, I’ve been cut. I’ve had tough fights, I’ve had draws, I’ve had wins. I’ve boxed all over the world. How much blood can you get out of a stone?”
If Saturday was, in fact, the last we see of Fury in the ring, he’ll go down as one of the greatest boxers of all time, as well as a legendary showman. But that doesn’t mean that everyone believes Fury when he says he’s planning on hanging up his gloves.
Former light-welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, who is scheduled to return to the ring in a July exhibition fight, has his doubts.
“It’s very, very hard to believe a single word that comes out of his mouth,” Hatton said on BBC Breakfast. “And I say that with love. … What Tyson has done in the ring and out of the ring — with mental health and the problems that he has had — I think he’s done himself proud.”
“He has nothing more to prove … but like I have with the exhibition bout on July 7, you have to keep setting yourself goals,” Hatton continued.
“It’s hard to believe a single word that comes out of his mouth”
Ricky Hatton on whether boxing world champion Tyson Fury could retire now ⤵️🥊#BBCBreakfast https://t.co/KXzaxbdsNk pic.twitter.com/KoIKStkUgk
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) April 26, 2022
Paris Fury — Tyson’s wife and the reason he’s given for his retirement — said that while she would like him to call it quits, a unification fight between the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk’s versus Anthony Joshua rematch could get him into the ring one more time.
“I would like him to come out now. He has nothing more to prove,” Paris told BT Sport on Saturday. “If he had anything left to do, I would say ‘Yeah Tyson, you do it’. But he has nothing to prove.”
“So unless he really wants to box on, and if he’s just doing it for whatever money, fame, he doesn’t need that,” she continued. “He’s the most famous man on the planet tonight. For Tyson to keep boxing, it just seems for one reason and I know in my heart, I think the only reason that Tyson will come back is for the unification fight,” Paris added.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].