Fight fans don’t believe him, but heavyweight champ Tyson Fury has again stated how he will retire after his upcoming July 9th rematch with former champion Wladimir Klitschko. At the official press conference in Manchester last week, Fury vowed to KO Klitschko “in a round,” but then, after the German press conference the following day, a far more subdued Fury said he does not care if he wins or loses the fight dubbed “Repeat or Revenge.”
Claiming he is “sick of boxing” and has no motivation to carry on, Fury went as far as to tell Kugan Cassius of iFilmTV that he hopes Klitschko beats him, so he can then retire and live a normal life and “be left alone.” Fans just don’t know how to take Fury (and neither does Klitschko for that matter) and hardly anyone believes the 27-year-old when he says he will walk away – from potential mega-money fights with the likes of Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder – after July 9th.
But Fury is adamant boxing will not “take over” his life and that he will retire to spend more time with his family.
“I set off today for what promises to be a very hard eight weeks’ training camp. This will be my best fight, then I’ll retire 100%,” Fury Tweeted yesterday.
Fury later added a picture of one of his children and wrote that his kids are the main reason he will retire, so he can watch them grow up. No-one knows if Fury will actually go through with his retirement plans, but if he did, he would be the first world heavyweight champion in history to walk away whilst unbeaten and holding the title. At age 27 and at 25-0, Fury is arguably approaching his prime years. Perhaps he really does have every intention of walking away after he’s beaten Klitschko again (and Fury, last time he appeared on TV, this past Saturday, very much had his game face back on, stating how he will indeed win again) but will the enormous money dangled in front of him change Fury’s mind?
Or maybe Fury has made enough cash to see him comfortably through the rest of his life. If July 9th is Fury’s last fight, one thing can be agreed on: the 6’9” giant has given us all a helluva ride during a pro career that began back in December of 2008. We’ll miss Fury when he’s gone, no doubt.
