- Tyson Fury last fought in December when he was defeated by Oleksandr Usyk
- The former world heavyweight champion was expected to fight Anthony Joshua
- But the Gypsy King shocked the boxing world by announcing his retirement
Eddie Hearn has insisted Anthony Joshua has plenty of options if Tyson Fury sticks to this week’s shock retirement announcement.
Hearn revealed on Monday that he had booked out Wembley Stadium ahead of a potential all-British showdown between Joshua and Fury, just hours before the Gypsy King dropped a bombshell update on his boxing future.
Taking to social media, Fury said: ‘Hello everyone, I’m going to make this short and sweet.
‘I would like to announce my retirement from boxing. It was great, I loved every minute of it. I’m going to end with this. Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everyone, see you on the other side. GET UP!’
Fans are now starting to come to terms with the fact that they may never see a fight between Fury and Joshua that has been a decade in the making.
Both men were defeated twice by Oleksandr Usyk, but there was still great interest in establishing the British king.
Anthony Joshua (R) has seven different options to fight next according to Eddie Hearn (L).
Some are now wondering where Joshua will go next, but promoter Hearn claims he has seven other potential opponents.
Speak with The sunhe named Martin Bakole, Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang, Agit Kabayel, Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker as alternatives.
Joshua suffered a knockout defeat to Dubois at Wembley in his last fight with his compatriot retaining the IBF title.
He has defeated three of the other men on Hearn’s list with wins over Parker and Whyte, while also beating Zhang at the 2012 Olympics.
A showdown with former WBC champion Wilder may not generate the same interest as a few years ago, but there’s no doubt it remains a big fight.
However, Hearn remains confident Fury will reverse his decision.
‘I saw that coming, yes. I saw that coming,” he said when asked by The Sun about the Gypsy King’s retirement.
“If you ever want to come back and max out, you have to retire first, right? Someone has to bring you out of retirement.
Fury announced on social media on Monday that he is retiring from boxing
“So listen, if this is the last we see of Tyson Fury, good luck to him. I personally doubt it. Whatever he decides to do, much respect to him.
“I think he wants to fight again, I think he’s getting bored. I think he knows the British public wants to see the AJ fight.
‘My personal belief is that we will see him in the ring again. If not, good luck to the man.’