Tyson Fury once again claims to be done with boxing, the latest declaration coming Friday as he celebrates his 34th birthday. Fury took to social media to announce his retirement for the second time this year and at least the third time overall in his 14-year career.
“Massive thanks to everyone who had an input in my career over the years,” Fury stated on his social media channels. “After long hard conversations, [I’ve] finally decided to walk away and my 34th birthday I say ‘Bon Voyage.’”
The claim was validated in part by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman.
“I just had a beautiful video conference with Tyson Fury on his 34th birthday,” Sulaiman said in a video posted to his verified Twitter account. “Very proud of him. He has confirmed retirement, to go out as a champion, as a family man with money with a great future. That’s a dream of anyone involved in boxing. We want to wish Tyson Fury the best. May God bless him all the time. He’s a great, great inspiration.”
Sulaiman would not confirm whether the WBC title would be declared vacant. Fury claimed the title in a seventh-round stoppage of Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41KOs) in their February 22, 2020 rematch in Las Vegas, nearly 15 months after the two fought to a controversial draw on December 1, 2018.
Most expected him to at least wait out the winner of the August 20 rematch between WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight titlist Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13KOs) and former two-time unified champ Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22KOs) before making his next move. The industry-wide hope was that Fury would face the winner to crown an undisputed champion.
“[Here’s] a few who made it special along the way,” noted Fury. “Frank Warren, SugarHil [Steward], BT Sport, Dad (John Fury), Spencer Brown, Steve Egan, ESPN, WBC, Top Rank, Jimmy Harrington, Andy Lee, Isaac Lowe, Ben Davison, Kristian Blacklock, Tim Allcock, Robert Davies, Shane Fury, Hughie Fury, James Ward.”
“Sorry if I missed [you], there’s [too] many to name! Massive shoutout to [wife] Paris Fury who helped me more than anyone. Most of all, [thank you] God. See you all on the other side, you big dossers. 2008-2022.”
