Tyson Fury has decided not to come out of retirement after all, feeling that he’s “too old” now to fight in a “young man’s game.” The 36-year-old former two-time heavyweight champion Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) didn’t specify what caused him to change his mind about coming out of retirement, but he did mention that his beard is now “all gray.”
Aging Boxer’s Decision
The gray is just the tip of the iceberg for Fury’s problems inside the ring. It’s his slowed reflexes, lack of power, and the stubborn middle-aged spread that is resistant to training. No matter how hard ‘The Gypsy King’ trains, it’s not going to be the Fountain of Youth that he needs to compete with the top heavyweights.
“Never. Too old, look at my beard, all gray. Boxing is a young man’s game,” said Tyson Fury to Sky Sports News about his decision to stay retired rather than resuming his career.
It’ll be interesting to see if Turki Alalshikh can lure Fury back into the ring by waving $100 million under his nose. With that kind of green being offered, ‘The Gypsy King’ might be tempted to come back for a trilogy match against Usyk.
It’s weird how Fury seemed to age overnight, going from the sprightly looking heavyweight that we saw defeat Deontay Wilder, Dereck Chisora, and Dillian Whyte in the last four years to the old-looking, 50-ish fighter we saw in his last two bouts against Oleksandr Usyk. I don’t know what it is, but something clicked Fury’s clock in high gear, transforming him into the person he is now.
Fury’s Sympathy Ranking
The Ring Magazine staff were kind to Fury in their rankings last week, installing him at #1 at heavyweight, despite his 0-2 record in his last two fights. It seemed like a ranking done out of sympathy and respect for the fighter, Tyson, from the past, when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko at the end of his career in 2015.