Tyson Fury has announced his retirement from boxing once again following back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk before adding a cryptic message.
The former world heavyweight champion dropped a unanimous decision to the Ukrainian in December, falling to 34-2-1 as a professional.
And in a speech on his social media account, Fury, who has previously retired several times from the sport, most recently in 2022, said: “Hi everybody, I’ll make this short and sweet, I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing, I’ve loved every single minute of it.
“I’m going to end with this, Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, I’ll see you on the other side.”
Fury referred to the notorious thief Turpin, who wore a mask in an attempt to conceal his identity during his crimes.
The Briton was left furious after Usyk’s latest win, bemoaning the judges’ scorecards and reiterating his belief that he won the fight and that his rival was handed a “Christmas gift”.
“I felt a little Christmas spirit in there and I think he got a little Christmas gift from them judges,” Fury said in the immediate aftermath. “An early Christmas gift. I was confident I had won that fight again. I thought I’d won both fights, but then again I’ve gone home with two losses on my record. I will always believe until the day I die that I won that fight.
“I’m not going to cry over spilt milk. It’s happened now. I know boxing, I’ve been in it all my life and you can’t change no decisions. I will always feel a little bit hard done by. Not a little bit, actually a lot. When you don’t get the knockout, this is what happens. You can’t guarantee the win.”
Fury explained that he came out of retirement three years ago because he was “bored” and “nobody believed me anyway.”
Eight months after retiring following his bout with Dillian Whyte, Fury returned to face Dereck Chisora in December 2022.
Fury was due to fight Anthony Joshua in a British super fight after both men suffered recent losses, but the bout is now in doubt with Fury once again stating his desire to retire.
The 36-year-old said in the build-up to his rematch with Usyk that training to fight had enhanced his mental health.
“I went out running straight away, as soon as I got back,” Fury said, following his first defeat to Usyk in May. “It’s back to my routine life. I train every day. I love what I do.
“I’ll be doing it until I can’t run anymore. It’s just what we do. My grandfather jogged three miles the day he died. It’s in me to do it all my life.
“I need to be more focused this time, and not as much showboating. You can get complacent on that. So if I don’t get complacent, then I should [win].”
In response to his latest retirement, Fury’s cousin and trainer Andy Lee said: “Long live the GYPSY KING.”
Fury was also mentioned at the weekend when Usyk collected the award for The Ring Male Fighter of the Year.
Firstly, I want to thank God,” Usyk said in his acceptance speech. “My family, my team, his Excellency – thank you so much. This year was great for me, my team and my country. For me, it’s very important. If you want to help people give good smiles, education and behaviour – smile. Thank you so much.
“And I want to say to my opponent. My best friend, Tyson Fury, my friend greedy belly – thank you so much you, were a great opponent.”
