TYSON FURY has cast even more doubt over a showdown with Anthony Joshua coming to fruition.
The Gypsy King seemingly put the final nail in the coffin of the long-overdue domestic dust-up last month by announcing his fifth retirement.
Boxing fans and pundits alike aren’t buying what the Wythenshawe warrior is selling and reckon he’s hung up his gloves again to bump up his payday for the AJ fight.
But he recently told promoter Frank Warren that he’s “happy” with his current life after boxing.
The Queensberry Promotions chief revealed on The Ariel & Ade Show: “Can he walk away from the sport? He says he has.
“And at this moment in time, he said to me, he’s really in a good place and that he’s very happy.
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“And that, for me, is important that he is happy and that he’s in a good place.
“He’s been one of the best two heavyweights of the 21st century.
“And I just want him now to enjoy his family and his life. He had a hard year last year.
“Three training camps one after another, one fight got cancelled because he got the cut eye.
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View of The Sun’s boxing expert: ‘I think it’s a ploy’
By Wally Downes Jr
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.
“He needs now to go enjoy his life and enjoy being with his family, which is what he’s doing.”
As much as he wants Fury to enjoy the fruits of his brutal labour, Warren wouldn’t be surprised if the former heavyweight king’s competitive spirit gets the better of him.
He said: “I’ve not bothered him and I’ve certainly not spoken to him about fighting again.
“And if he does, that’s got to be his choice. He’s a very, very wealthy guy, he’s made a serious amount of money.
“He doesn’t need, financially, to fight. If he does fight, it’s because he’s got a fighting heart.
“Obviously he’ll get well paid if he does fight. But he’s got a fighting heart.”
Fury’s retirement came on the back of consecutive losses to former undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
In a video on his social media pages, he said: “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.
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“I’m going to end with this – Dick Turpin wore a mask.
“God bless everybody and see you on the other side.”
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Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
