Asking a fighter who is clearly nearing the end of their career when they plan on retiring is exactly like telling them they can't fight like they used to. It's an insult, for a proud fighter, of the highest order.
Yet the subject has been embraced by Tyson Fury this week as countless people have stuck a camera in his face, or a mic up his nose, and all but told him he's not the Tyson Fury of old. His father, John Fury, has been telling him exactly that for six years. His old rivals, by fighting on too long themselves, have also inadvertently warned Tyson of the impending truth.
But Fury insists he can’t walk away. The 37-year-old fights Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in a bout that marks his fifth return from five retirement announcements.
The bout will come a week after two other heavyweight veterans and former Fury opponents, 40-year-old Deontay Wilder and 42-year-old Derek Chisora, collided in a dramatic if chaotic fight that exhibited glaring signs of decline in both.
Fury, 34-2-1 (24 KOs), hasn’t fought since back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024. Back then, after the second defeat, he promised his latest retirement would be his last.
“It’s a love-hate relationship with the old boxing game,” Fury explained when asked on Good Morning Britain why it’s so hard for him to keep the gloves locked away. “I’ve retired more times than anyone in history I believe, five times, [then] five times out of retirement.
“Retirement sounds like a very good idea after about two months and then you start to get itchy feet; I need to get back to work.
“Retirement for me is not, I’m 65 and I want to retire in the garden and cut the bushes, retirement for me at 37 is an active, full-on job which I believe is harder than boxing and getting punched in the face by heavyweights for a living.
“I still feel fantastic and, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be boxing. I’m not one of those people who could go in there and not be at my best. I wouldn’t like to go in there and get beat by a lesser opponent just because I’m too old. I don’t believe I’m on any decline, [but] I’ve had a lot of tough fights over the years.”
The 12-round battle between Wilder and Chisora, won on a split decision by Wilder, provided Fury with some troubling visions of his own future.
“That was sad to see,” Fury admitted. “It was sad to see two great fighters from the past get to that level; they have declined. Five or six years ago, those guys were really fearsome. To see them on the decline at [the ages of] 42 and 40, it was heart-breaking. I thought to myself, that could be me very soon, I could be next. For now, I feel fantastic. I’m going to take it one fight at a time.”
As for his outspoken father, Fury spoke matter-of-factly about a man who, for a long time, had been his biggest supporter. But in recent months, and in between calling out Carl Froch, the 60-year-old has publicly stated that Tyson is not the fighter he once was and that “his legs have gone.”
“He wanted me to retire in 2020 after I beat Deontay Wilder [in the rematch],” Fury revealed about his father’s wishes. “He just doesn’t want me to box. I suppose any parent wouldn’t want their kids to keep doing something they’ve done from a little kid all the way to an adult. I think he’s concerned. He hasn’t wanted me to do it for the last six years but, at the end of the day, every man must bear his own cross.”
Does Fury expect to see his father there on Saturday night?
“He didn’t come to the Usyk [rematch] so I’m not holding my breath,” said the former heavyweight champion. “He’s his own person. If he turns up, great. If he doesn’t, also great.”
Tyson Fury will be there, of course. For one more time at least.
