Tyson Fury announced his retirement from professional boxing in January of this year following back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk. His father, John Fury, has not addressed the media since before the first bout.
‘The Gypsy King’ stepped through the ropes with Usyk in May of 2024 for the chance to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis. He fell short, losing on the cards after a torrid ninth round in which the Ukrainian was close to scoring a stoppage.
Believing he had won the fight, Fury activated his rematch clause and they met again in December. Usyk’s win was more convincing the second time around, though the Brit again claimed robbery. One month later, he surprised fans by announcing his retirement, leaving a lucrative bout with countryman Anthony Joshua behind.
John Fury – who was part of his son’s camp for the first fight but was not involved for the rematch – has now spoken to Seconds Out, addressing the defeats.
“Well first and foremost he has his belts stolen off him didn’t he? What can you say? When someone’s paid you a shedload of money, they seem to resent letting you stay champion as well, don’t they? For my money, they probably didn’t want to pay him the same money again. Probably couldn’t afford to pay Tyson the same money again if they’d let him remain as champion. For me, he won both fights.”
Fury then discussed the cut that saw the first fight postponed, believing his son should have pushed the date back further despite a publicised financial penalty for doing so.
“In the first one, he needed more rest time to be honest with you. He put a full camp in, got cut, he had three weeks rest and then he was back in the gym for another eight weeks. You can’t do those things. So, by the time he got in the ring, he’d overtrained. There was nothing left of him.
“But he was facing a 10, 15 million dollar fine. He was backed in a corner. I told him take the fine. I said he’s not going to fine you, there’s no show without you. But he didn’t want to let fans down. Sometimes you’ve got to make your own decisions and not care about other people so much.”
On the rematch, for which John was barely involved, he said Tyson was not in prime condition.
“The second time I never got involved at all because of my own personal reasons, which I’m not going to go in to. Tyson could’ve been in a lot better shape, let’s put it that way. And I’m gonna end on that. Have a look at him when he’s in there. If you put the work in, hard work, you just don’t look like that.
“I know he’s always been a little overweight, but you’ve got to look like you’ve done something. But, how good is he when perform with the best in the world, who’s had their knackers washed for them, and still win. Like I said, his body didn’t represent work. What I call work and his team calls work is two different things.”
Finally, Fury senior addressed his son’s retirement, stating the ‘robberies’ had left such a bitter taste that he believes his son wont return.
“They stole his belts off him. They’ve took the biggest ticket seller out the game. Cause without Tyson Fury, there’s no dance partners. This Usyk vs Dubois, that’s never going to be a 95,000 crowd. And ‘The Gypsy King’ is the best dance partner anyone can have. If you want money, big money, without ‘The Gypsy King’ you’re not getting it … They’ve shot themselves in the foot, bad business.
“But they think we’ll rob you today, let the dust settle, we’ll offer you a few more quid later on and get you back it. Guess what? You can’t do that with him now cause he’s had enough. He believes he’s had his belts stolen off him. And he thinks okay then, jog on. No more Gypsy King … No disrespect to Oleksandr Usyk, great fighter but he doesn’t have the selling power that Tyson Fury has.”
Tyson has since teased a comeback on social media, with many feeling the ‘AJ’ bout will indeed happen. He has also expressed interest in a trilogy with Usyk.
