We will see Tyson Fury back in the ring despite retirement plans, says analyst
- Planet Sport writer
- 9 May 2022
Tyson Fury is now over two weeks into his 'retirement' and still has no plans to return to the ring - even if the boxing world believes he has unfinished business.
The 'Gypsy King' seems adamant that he has fought his last professional fight in a boxing ring.
If so, Fury retires with 32 wins from 33 bouts in a career that has lasted 14 years. His standout wins are over Deontay Wilder (twice), Wladimir Klitschko and Dillian Whyte.
Should he call time, Fury will become just the second heavyweight world champion to retire undefeated after Rocky Marciano but according to Andy Clarke, he is unsure about Fury's promise.
"I believe he meant it when he says it, but I don't think he will," Clarke told Planet Sport when asked about Fury retiring. "I think he will change his mind because you often see this with fighters. Down the years you've seen a lot of them retire and come back and then retire and come back.
"Sometimes it's mischievous, sometimes it's a publicity stunt because it makes that comeback all that much bigger.
"I don't think this is that, I think he actually meant it because you get to the end of another long hard camp and maybe you have a few niggles, you may well just sit on the edge of a ring one day and think 'I'm not doing this again, get through this one, win this one and then I'm done'.
"But once you've rested up and had a think about it and then particularly when Usyk-Joshua happens and the winner starts calling your name, I think he'll change his mind.
"The WBC have said they will talk to him about the situation with the title in the next few weeks. I don't expect to hear anything from them any time soon because I don't see why they are going to want to push him to vacate and officially retire, that's not really what they do.
"But no, I don't think he will (retire), I think he'll come back and I hope he does because we want to see that fight for undisputed and Joshua-Fury would be enormous as we know but Fury-Usyk would be great. I think that's a hard fight for Fury, I think that's what he thinks as well."
Can Usyk trouble Fury?
If Fury did come back out of retirement, the only fight that would make sense for him would be an undisputed clash against the winner of Usyk-Joshua 2.
With talks of the Ukrainian's potential bout with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez off the table after his recent loss to Dmitry Bivol, a second win against Joshua would leave Fury as the only acceptable option in the eyes of fans for Usyk.
If it comes into fruition, then fans may be in for a treat with the pair being the most technical fighters in the division. However, Usyk's southpaw stance will not be an issue for Fury, according to Clarke.
"I think it will potentially create more problems because it's not so much that he's southpaw but in terms of boxing skills, he's Fury's equal and you could argue he's maybe even slightly superior in that regard.
"That's going to be an unusual situation for him to confront because as a heavyweight that's never been the case. He's always been the heavyweight that moves like a middleweight and after he changed trainers with the second Wilder fight, he's shown us he can do it any which way.
"He can go and take somebody out or he can box and move. He can do the lot but against Usyk he might lose if it's a boxing contest.
"But he's got a huge size advantage because if they box at the end of the year, I think Usyk has been about 215-217lbs in his fights so far.
"You wouldn't imagine he would come in more than 220lbs. Then if Fury weights in more than he did against Dillian Whyte which was 18st 12lbs, then he's gonna be three stone heavier than him and that's a lot."
