Heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury plans to hang up the gloves after his upcoming fight against Dillian Whyte in London.
Fury is coming off of back-to-back wins over Deontay Wilder and won the rubber match of their trilogy last October. Despite some rumblings regarding a potential crossover fight against UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, the WBC required that he negotiate a fight with Whyte.
Fury’s tenure in the boxing ring is well documented. After battling issues with his mental health, he returned to defeat Sefer Seferi before eventually earning the WBO inter-continental heavyweight belt against Tom Schwarz.
During a recent interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, he stated that he plans to call it quits following the Whyte fight.
“This is the final countdown of ‘The Gypsy King.’ Hollywood awaits,” Fury said. “This is my retirement fight. 100,000 people at Wembley, all British world title fight. Return of the Mack after four years to the U.K. This is it, going out on a high. Retiring on top. Two-time world heavyweight champion and I’ll have made eight defenses of the lineal championship. Never to lose a fight. To go down as only the second heavyweight in history to retire unbeaten. Me and Rocky Marciano.” (h/t MMA Fighting)
Fury went on to clarify that while he plans on retiring from professional boxing, a crossover fight with Ngannou is still in the cards.
“I don’t count that as a real boxing fight. That’s not a boxing fight. That’s gonna be a ‘special’ fight. That will be in a cage in four-ounce gloves, in Las Vegas, at the Raiders Stadium….
“I will have retired from competitive, championship boxing and I’ll be ready to do the crossover fights completely. He won’t be the UFC heavyweight champion anymore, I won’t be the WBC heavyweight champion anymore, but I will still be the lineal heavyweight champion because they can’t take that from me!”
Fury and Ngannou have gone back-and-forth on social media for months, and a matchup between them seems imminent. Ngannou will miss a chunk of 2022 after undergoing knee surgery.
If Fury is planning on retiring following the fight with Whyte, he’ll go down as arguably one of the best heavyweights in boxing history.
Do you think Tyson Fury will retire after fighting Dillian Whyte?
