The five times Tyson Fury retired from boxing and what happened – including his first 11 years ago!
Less than a month after suffering defeat in his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury took to social media on Monday to announce his retirement.
After one of the most distinguished careers in modern heavyweight history, the Gypsy King revealed he was leaving the sport in a 17-second video posted to Instagram.
The announcement comes as a particular surprise as his second defeat to Usyk appeared to open the door for a highly anticipated, money-grubbing showdown with Anthony Joshua.
Fury’s news was met with skepticism in much of the boxing world, and for good reason.
The erratic and outspoken 36-year-old has previously announced his intention to retire from the sport, only to later make a U-turn and return to the ring.
Here, Mail Sport looks back at all five of Fury’s ‘retirements’ and the events surrounding them.
Tyson Fury announced on Monday that he will retire from boxing with immediate effect
The former heavyweight king made the announcement in a post on his Instagram account
November 2013
Long before Anthony Joshua had made his mark in the professional ranks, Fury was part of another long-running domestic rivalry in the heavyweight division.
In 2013, the fight on everyone’s lips was rising rival Fury taking on David Haye, who had suffered his only defeat in boxing’s glamor division against Wladimir Klitschko.
In September that year, Fury and Haye were due to meet at the Manchester Arena, before the Hayemaker pulled out just a week before the fight due to a sparring cutback.
The clash was then postponed until February, before Haye was forced to withdraw again due to shoulder surgery.
Fury vented his frustration with the former unified cruiserweight champion and later announced in a social media post that he would be quitting the sport.
He wrote: ‘Hello everyone, I have officially retired from boxing. There are too many crooked people in sports.’
Fury added the next day: ‘Just to confirm I’m not in a bad mood or anything. I’m 1000,000% retired, no matter what, I’ll never fight again!’
The decision ultimately proved short-lived, with Fury returning three months later to stop American journeyman Joey Abell at the Copper Box Arena.
Fury was scheduled to fight long-time rival and former heavyweight champion David Haye in the fall of 2013
But after Haye was forced to withdraw twice due to injury, Fury claimed he was quitting the sport
October 2016
After returning from his first retirement, Fury put together a string of victories that ultimately led to a clash with unified heavyweight king Klitschko in 2015.
Along with his brother Vitali, the Ukrainian had ruled the division with an iron fist, racking up record ratings in Germany while toppling a string of contenders but proving polarizing in traditional boxing markets.
When the pair finally met in 2015, Fury produced a virtuoso performance, completely eliminating Klitschko on his way to a lopsided decision victory.
Klitschko immediately activated his rematch clause and the pair would meet again in the ring the following year.
Ultimately, the rematch would never happen. Fury initially postponed the clash after suffering an injury before relinquishing his titles and announcing he would retire from fighting, while detailing his issues with mental health and drug use.
He wrote at the time: ‘I have been very blessed in my life and career and have reached the highest level in boxing, it has been an epic journey along the way.
‘Thank you to all the fans who supported me along the way and believed in me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. THE END.’
After gaining significant weight, Fury would remain out of the ring for almost three years before announcing his intention to reapply for a boxing license in 2018.
Fury became unified champion in 2015 by defeating long-reigning heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko
He later withdrew from a rematch with the Ukrainian before retiring from boxing, citing his mental health
Fury then fought lightly rated contenders Sefer Seferi and Francesco Pianeta before taking on then heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in December that year.
The clash would become an instant classic, forever remembered as Fury would improbably come off the canvas in the final round to mark the start of the second chapter of his career.
April 2022
After his epic with Deontay Wilder was controversially ruled a draw, Fury would assert himself in their two subsequent clashes, with the American being stopped on both occasions to claim the lineal heavyweight crown.
With the trilogy completed, talk intensified once again that the long-awaited clash between Fury and AJ would finally happen.
However, as they had done before, negotiations between the two camps collapsed and Joshua took on Oleksandr Usyk instead.
With the clash off the table, Fury instead fought compatriot Dillian Whyte, with the pair facing a record-breaking crowd at Wembley.
Fury dominated Whyte during their clash before knocking out his mandatory challenger in the sixth round with a devastating uppercut that sent Whyte crashing to the canvas.
Taking the microphone for his post-fight speech, the Gypsy King revealed that he had promised his wife Paris ahead of the clash that he would subsequently leave the competition.
Fury’s next retirement came after he knocked out Dillian Whyte at Wembley in 2022
He revealed in his post-fight speech that he had promised his wife Paris that he would hang up his gloves
“I promised my lovely wife of 14 years, Paris, that after the Wilder 3 fight that would be it. And I meant it. We had a war, it was a great trilogy. And I meant it,” Fury explained.
‘But I was offered to fight at home at Wembley, and I believe I deserved it – that I owed it to the fans, I owed it to everyone in Britain to come here and fight at Wembley.
‘Now it’s all done and I have to be a man of my word. And I think this is it, this could be the final curtain for the Gypsy King. And what a way to go out! Thank you very much to Britain!’
August 2022
Just months after his initial announcement, Fury later made an about-face and insisted he was ready to fight on, provided the money was right.
When asked if he wanted to return to the ring, he replied: ‘One hundred percent, as Jerry Maguire said, Frank: “Show me the money!”
“If anyone can show me the money, I nicknamed Frank Warren years ago, I called him the ‘Magic Man.’
“Because if he can bring someone back from absolute death like he did with me, he must have magic.”
However, this ultimately proved short-lived and in August 2022, Fury relinquished his heavyweight title in Ring Magazine, claiming his days as a fighter were over.
Fury later reversed course and insisted he was looking for big-money fights before once again walking away from the sport
He wrote on
Once again this decision would be quickly reversed when he was back in the ring before the end of the year, completing his trilogy with Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in December.
January 2025
Fury then followed up his victory over Chisora by announcing he would face former UFC champion – and professional boxing debutant – Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Despite coming in as heavy favourite, Fury was dropped by a left hook in the third round before recovering to score a controversial victory on the judges’ scorecards.
The disappointing win set up a clash with Oleksandr Usyk, with the winner crowned the first undisputed champion of the heavyweight division in the four-belt era.
The clash ultimately proved competitive, but Usyk rallied as the fight progressed to take the win, before repeating the feat when the pair reunited in December 2024.
After the fight, Fury reportedly told those close to him that he wasn’t done in the ring and that he would finally clash with AJ in 2025.
Speculation that the fight was in the works continued to grow in the ensuing days and weeks before Fury announced on Monday that his career was over with immediate effect.
Fury’s latest retirement came after he suffered his second professional defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in December
The 36-year-old expressed his frustration after the fight after the judges unanimously ruled the bout in favor of the Ukrainian.
In a short social media post, the 36-year-old made a cryptic reference to infamous highwayman Dick Turpin.
“Hello everyone, I’m going to make this short and sweet,” Fury said.
‘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!’