Tyson Fury makes emphatic retirement statement amid Anthony Joshua fight speculation

Tyson Fury has emphatically denied he will be coming out of retirement amid increasing speculation his long-awaited bout with Anthony Joshua may finally come to fruition.

Fury announced in January that he was retiring from professional boxing effective immediately a month after suffering a second consecutive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia.

The 36-year-old failed to avenge his loss to the unified heavyweight champion as Usyk prevailed by unanimous decision, having won the initial contest by split decision six months earlier.

Despite calling time on his career, the 'Gypsy King' has a track record of reversing retirement decisions and rumours had began to intensify in recent weeks that a potential "Battle of Britain" showdown with Joshua could be in the offing.

Fury even hinted at a potential comeback with a cryptic social media video on Monday alongside his former coach SugarHill Steward.

However, the Wythenshawe fighter has taken to social media to quash any speculation and reaffirm his decision to hang up his gloves.

Fury took to Instagram and said: “I hear a lot of talk of “The Gypsy King” returning to boxing and I ask the question of this one: for what? What would I return for?

“More boxing belts? Won 22 of them. I’ve been rumped, they’ve had their use for me. But I’m happy, contented with what I’ve done, what I’ve achieved, what I’ve accomplished.

“I’ve been around the world and back again and here we are, this is what retirement looks like for the Gypsy King. Not too shabby.

I’m in no rush at all to go back to boxing and get my face punched in, for what? What would I return for?

“So here we are, I’m retired and I’m staying retired. I’ve got nothing to prove to anybody and nothing to return for. God bless you all and see you on the other side.”

Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn was confident of being able to arrange a showdown between Fury and Joshua when discussing the matter last week.

Joshua is currently out of action for the next eight weeks as he undergoes surgery on his elbow but Hearn is already making substantial plans ahead of his pending return.

Hearn told iFL TV: “I said it the other day in an interview, the way that fight gets made is probably Tyson reaches out to AJ and says, ‘Mate, do you fancy it?’ And he’ll go, ‘100 per cent, let's f***ing do it’. And it’ll be made like that. So let’s see.”

Jaquob Crooke

• Tyson Fury
• Anthony Joshua
• Queensberry
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