Is Tyson Fury Coming Out of Retirement?

When Tyson Fury announced his retirement from boxing on in January 2025, he appeared to mean it. But, over the decades, numerous high-profile boxers have retired only to return to the ring months or sometimes years later. And now it appears Fury has unfinished business as he’s hinted he could return for a trilogy bout against the man who’s beaten him twice already, Oleksandr Usyk.

Now aged 36, Fury isn’t completely over the hill in boxing terms. Indeed, several boxers have been older than that while holding at least one Heavyweight Championship belt (see the table below). But he’s certainly getting towards the end of his career. Many thought he was serious when he said he was hanging up his gloves. And perhaps he was at the time, but whether it’s the glory or the wads of cash he’s likely to earn, something appears to have persuaded Fury that it’s not quite time to ring the final bell on what has been an outstanding career so far.

Tyson Fury’s Career

Tyson Fury has announced his retirement from boxing in his latest post on Instagram 🥊❌ pic.twitter.com/z2fN7ESHSi

— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) January 13, 2025

If it hadn’t been for the two defeats by decision to Usyk, in May and December 2024, Fury would remain unbeaten as a professional boxer. The only other minor blemish on his 37-fight record was the draw (by split decision) against Deontay Wilder in December 2018 in Los Angeles. Many at the time and since have suggested that Fury should have been awarded the victory on that occasion, but others thought it could easily have gone the other way, so perhaps the draw was the right result.

Fury’s first professional fight came way back in December 2008 in Nottingham against Hungarian southpaw Béla Gyöngyösi. The Gypsy King won by technical knockout on that occasion, something he would make a habit of in the following years. After a string of relatively easy wins, Fury’s first really big test came against Derek Chisora in July 2011. Chisora was the British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion at the time, but Fury outboxed his opponent to score the victory by unanimous decision.

After winning the vacant WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title with a TKO win over Vinny Maddalone of the US, Fury once again defeated Chisora to land the European, WBO International and British heavyweight titles. Then, in November 2015, came Fury’s chance at real glory as he earned a shot at multi-belt, undisputed heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Klitschko had been the world champ for a decade, and many pundits were sceptical of Fury’s chances of success. But the Manchester man put in one of the fights of his career and controlled the bout, causing all kinds of problems for the Ukrainian. Fury won by unanimous decision and claimed his place at the top of the boxing tree.

Between the Klitschko victory and the first loss against his countryman Usyk, Fury fought Deontay Wilder three times, the first being the aforementioned draw, and then two wins for the Brit, one by TKO and one straight KO. Among others, he also beat Dillian Whyte, Otto Wallin, Tom Schwarz, Francis Ngannou and, just for good measure, Derek Chisora for the third time.

Can Fury Make a Winning Comeback?

Fury’s two fights against Usyk took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The first ended with a controversial split decision in favour of the Ukrainian, with the second a unanimous decision going the same way. On both occasions, Fury suggested he had done enough to win, and his hint at a comeback made reference to a possible rematch taking place at Wembley (perhaps with more favourable judges!).

As good as Fury is, however, Usyk is very possibly a better boxer. He’s had 23 professional fights and won them all, 14 within the distance. He dismantled Anthony Joshua twice, once at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September 2021 and then in Saudi Arabia a year later. For what it’s worth, he also beat Derek Chisora.

On the other hand, Usyk is also edging towards the end of his career. The Ukrainian will be 39 in January 2026, and with a possible fight mooted for April of that year, time could have started to catch up with him as well. Perhaps if the fight were to take place on British soil, the home support would give Fury that little extra spring in his step that he’d no doubt require if he is to be successful. But Usyk has shown several times that he is not easily intimidated, not least in north London against Joshua in 2021.

Oldest Heavyweight Champions

As you can see, Tyson Fury is a spring chicken compared to many of the men who have held at least one heavyweight belt, with George Foreman in particular proving that age is just a number. More recently, the Klitschko brothers didn’t do too badly as they embraced middle age while still mixing it with the biggest and best in the boxing game. Whether Fury can add his name to this distinguished list remains to be seen, but he’ll certainly give it his best shot.