Tyson Fury Dismisses Retirement Talk, Maps Out Five-Fight Plan
Tyson Fury has dismissed claims that he will soon retire from boxing after postponing his undisputed heavyweight world title fight with Oleksandr Usyk.
WBC champion Fury (34-0-1 24 KO) was scheduled to face IBF, WBO, and WBA title holder Usyk in Saudi Arabia on February 17, but was forced to postpone the bout after a “freak cut” above the eye in sparring.
The fight – the first undisputed heavyweight title clash of the four-belt era – was quickly rearranged for May 18, although there are widespread doubts whether it will go ahead at all. Former super-middleweight world champions Carl Froch and George Groves both expressed their scepticism that the fight will take place.
The doubts are also based on the fact that this fight has now been pushed back three times. Fury and Usyk (21-0-0 14 KO) had initially planned to fight last April but negotiations collapsed. They were then expected to fight on December 23 but Fury’s unexpectedly difficult bout against Francis Ngannou pushed it back to February, only for Fury to suffer the cut and push it back again.
It has led to claims that Fury is trying to get out of the fight and will soon hang up his gloves, but the undefeated champion has hit back.
“I keep hearing talk of people saying that I should retire or I’m going to retire soon or whatever. I ain’t retiring anywhere,” Fury said in a video posted to his Instagram account.
“I’ve got two fights with Usyk for the undisputed, then I’m going to fight AJ [Anthony Joshua] at least once, maybe twice if there’s a rematch, if he wants one, after the first battering I give him. And then I’m going to fight Ngannou again. And that’s just to start, so there’s five little fights for you to whet your appetite with. I ain’t going nowhere, nowhere.”
There have been calls for years for Fury and Joshua to fight in an all-British heavyweight showdown but as yet the respective parties have been unable to pull it off.
The recent involvement of Saudi Arabia and its ambition to become a global boxing capital could change all that. Fury’s last fight with Ngannou took place in Saudi Arabia, as will his two with Usyk. Joshua has fought in Saudi three times and will make it four when he takes on Ngannou in March.
Warren Blasts ‘Scandalous’ Fury Criticism
Meanwhile, Fury’s promoter Frank Warren has blasted the “scandalous” criticism the heavyweight champion is receiving over the eye injury.
“Tyson wants the fight,” Queensbury Promotions boss Warren told BBC Sport. “Some of the stuff that’s been going out, I’ve never heard anything like it. “Has Tyson got make-believe stitches in his eye? What they’re saying is libellous and scandalous. It’s like some kind of cult against him.
“He can’t continue training as such. He can tick over. He can get on the bike and keep well but when you’re training for a fight you’re training to reach your ultimate best, your peak. Now he has to wind down and set everything back in motion to get himself up and ready and make sure he’s at his best for May 18.”
Usyk Has No ‘Irritation Or Frustration’
While fans, Fury and Warren have been sharing their frustrations in recent days, Usyk has remained calm, despite revealing that he missed the birth of his daughter while he was in training camp.
“I didn’t even have any irritation inside,” he said. “No frustration. I don’t judge anyone, no one at all. It happens, it’s boxing. You need to take it seriously because we are on a different level with Tyson Fury. We must cross out all the little things in order to keep preparing to go to the ring. I just looked back at all the work I’ve done – getting up early, jogging, swimming, sparring, the amount of all it, and I thought to myself: ‘Wow, that’s some good work I did.’
“Then I thought of how much more training I will do and how much good work I will do. So when, with God’s help, I will finish all this work, I’ll be able to box three Tyson Furys. We can do it simultaneously or one by one on Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday.”
