Britain’s Tyson Fury, center, celebrates after beating Britain’s Dillian Whyte during their WBC heavyweight title boxing fight at Wembley Stadium in London, Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Ian Walton, File)
British heavyweight Tyson Fury on Monday announced that he is retiring from boxing just one month after losing a rematch with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.
“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 and I’m going to end with this: Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side,” the 36-year-old said on his social media.
It was also unclear why Fury made a reference to Turpin, a famed 18th century English highway robber and horse thief.
Fury retires with a record of 34-2-1, with 24 KOs. The losses to Usyk were the only defeats in Fury’s career, which began in 2008 and included one draw against American boxer Deontay Wilder in 2018.
Last year, Fury was left disgruntled by the decision loss he faced at the hands of Usyk in Riyadh, his second to the Ukrainian boxer. All the judges scored in favour of Usyk 116-112, prompting suggestions from Fury that this was a ‘Christmas gift’ handed to his counterpart.
“I will believe till the day I die that I won that fight. I was aggressive, on the front foot all night, landing to the body and head. Frank Warren [his promoter] had me three or four rounds up. A lot of people had me at least two rounds up. But I’m not going to cry over spilled milk. I can’t change the decision. When you don’t get the KO this is what happens: you can’t guarantee a win.”
A Ukrainian journalist asked Fury a question whether the war efforts of Ukraine and the spirit behind it were the reasons for Usyk’s win in Riyadh, but Fury refused to play along and said, “I didn’t feel no spirit. I felt a bit of Christmas spirit in there and think he got a Christmas gift from those judges.”
Fury had acknowledged making mistakes, notably by showboating too much, when losing their first fight in Riyadh in May by split decision.
Fury has announced his retirement before, however, notably on his 34th birthday in August 2022. But he was back fighting again two months later.
(With agency inputs)
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