Tyson Fury has given “his word” that he will have a comeback fight in 2026, which would make this the fifth time he has ‘retired’ from boxing before eventually making a return. Here’s what happened on each previously occasion ‘The Gypsy King’ called it a day only to perform a U-turn…
To the shock of absolutely no-one, Tyson Fury has given “his word” to Turki Alalshikh that he will return to boxing in 2026, which will naturally come as part of next year’s Riyadh Season.
The Gypsy King is very much the boy who cried wolf when it comes to boxing retirements, as he has hung up the gloves on five separate occasions since September 2013 only to return to the ring each time.
This time, he called it a day a month after his second defeat to Olekandr Usyk, which the vast majority of experts and fans scored the bout in Usyk’s favour but Fury still insists he won.
Still, it is great to have Fury back in the heavyweight mix as the sport is better for him involved and this return may mean that we might still get his showdown with Anthony Joshua, though another retirement may precede the actual fight that should be next.
Before that, from first to last, here are the five times Fury ‘retired’ from boxing…
Retirement No.1: November 2013
Having built a 21-0 record, Fury goaded former world heavyweight champion David Haye to agree to fight on pay-per-view at Manchester Arena on September 28, 2013.
By this time, Haye already had one ‘retirement’ to his name and Fury, who doubted whether his rival would step into the ring, had his pessimism justified as the fight was postponed by ‘The Hayemaker’ around a week before fight day due to a cut in sparring.
Haye vs Fury was rescheduled and cancelled again a few months later, which clearly infuriated the up-and-coming Gypsy King.
Having been denied a huge opportunity against one of British boxing’s biggest, he became disenchanted by the sport and announced his retirement, saying: “Hi everyone, I have officially retired from boxing. There’s too many b*** people in the sport. They will have to f*** someone else. Goodbye boxing.”
A day later, he doubled down: “Just to confirm I’m not in a bad mood or anything. I’ve retired 1000000% no matter what ill never fight again!”
But as we know, this was far from the end for Fury, who decided to give boxing another chance as he returned in January 2014, stopping Joey Abell in a runout inside four rounds before rematching Derek Chisora en route to that night in Germany against Wladimir Klitschko…
Retirement No.2: October 2016
Fury had one of his greatest nights on November 28, 2015 as he dethroned a seemingly unbeatable Klitschko on away turf, outclassing and at times toying with the once-formidable champion.
A bewildered Klitschko had no clue what to make of Fury’s circus act in the build up, but the Brit’s genius gamesmanship worked perfectly as the Ukrainian was not mentally prepared for the boxing masterclass he would be a victim of as he had his belts torn away.
This punch-perfect performance was expected to precede an era of domination for Fury, but his mental health struggles got the better of him as his career was put on hold.
For Fury, his entire life was leading to him becoming world heavyweight champion. So when this feat was achieved, he found it difficult to come to terms with what could be next as he returned to drug and alcohol abuse as he piled on the pounds.
Klitschko immediately activated his rematch clause to pursue a second bout with Fury, but this never came to pass as the Brit twice called off their second meeting; firstly due to injury and secondly due to his mental health.
In October 2016, Fury said he’s “the greatest and also retired”, but he soon backtracked, insisting: “You think you will get rid of the Gypsy King that easy! I’m here to stay.”
Retirement No.3: August 2017
In the following months, Fury toyed with the idea of making a comeback, but he had more desperate matters to attend to as he battled addiction and a severe health deterioration.
Fury was also embroiled in a dispute with UK Anti-Doping over his abuse of Class A substances during his period on the sidelines and he eventually admitted defeat, stepping away from the sport in August 2017: “Been very blessed in my life & career achieve the upmost in boxing, was an epic journey along the way.
“Thanks to all the fans that supported & believed in me along the way. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. THE END.”
During this dark period, there looked to be no way back for Fury, but he performed a drastic U-turn at the end of 2018, settling his case with UK Anti-Doping before having his boxing licence reinstated by the British Boxing Board of Control.
While it’s easy to make light of the other times Fury retired and returned, this chapter of his life was frightening as he hit rock bottom before producing one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history; replicating the highs of his world title win in Germany via becoming a two-time champion by demolishing Deontay Wilder in February 2020.
Retirement No.4: August 2022
After combining with Wilder to arguably produce the best trilogy of thrilling fights in boxing history, Fury earned a homecoming as he fought fellow Brit Dillian Whyte in April 2022 at Wembley Stadium.
This was long overdue as he had not fought in England since 2018 and Whyte was a suitable opponent as he had spent years waiting for an opportunity as a mandatory challenger.
Whyte is a heavy hitter and he’s proven he can bite down on his gum shield to win the hard way, but he has never been at Fury’s level from a pure boxing perspective, so it’s hardly surprising that he was outclassed in front of 94,000 at Wembley.
‘The Body Snatcher’ barely laid a glove on Fury, who took his time before laying out his opponent with a flush uppercut to stop the fight in the sixth round.
Post-fight, Fury once again declared that was all she wrote on his career: “I’ve been in this game 20 years, I’m 34 in a few months. I said the third Wilder fight would be my last, but I felt I owed the fans one last homecoming.
“This is definitely the end of the Gypsy King and I went out with a bang. Tonight was amazing but this is the end.”
Fury made this official in August as he relinquished his Ring belt.
Yet, only two months later, he was back. In October, it was announced that he would fight Chisora for a third time in December 2022 at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in a trilogy bout that no-one apart from the two fighters actually wanted.
Retirement No.5: January 2025
Clearly taking his second loss to Usyk badly, Fury – for a short while – silenced talk of the eagerly-awaited Joshua fight by announcing his fifth retirement in January 2025.
Again hinting at injustice, Fury said: “Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet. I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it.
“I’m going to end with this. Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side. GET UP!”
But Fury remains bitter about the second defeat to Usyk and has kept boxing training in recent months, seemingly with the idea at the back of his mind to return.
Fury has still been lapping it up since January, enjoying lavish holidays in between his quiet family life in Morecambe. But boxing is all that he knows.
Even after earning millions upon millions and becoming a world champion twice over, Fury clearly still has the appetite to compete. If he keeps to “his word”, he will be back in the ring next year as he targets revenge against Usyk and, hopefully, the all-British mega-fight with Joshua.
