Billy Joe Saunders may have an inside track on what it will take for his friend Tyson Fury to come out of retirement.
Fury made a short and rather surprising announcement on Monday that he is stepping away from the sport. It is not the first time he has done so, though there is more reason to believe he means it this time.
‘The Gypsy King’ is coming off the back of two back-to-back defeats. They are the first of his career, and both came after hard-fought 12-round contests with Oleksandr Usyk.
The first time he was caught short in a huge and punishing ninth round which made the difference on the cards, the second time he lost a little wider with a unanimous decision going in favour of the Ukrainian.
Fury may feel, having been bested by the generational great, that there are no other challenges out there for him given that he is a former two time world champion, lineal champion and British, Commonwealth and European belt holder.
However, fans would argue that one last fight against British rival Anthony Joshua would be a better way to say farewell.
Speaking to talkSPORT Boxing, former middleweight champion Saunders says a mammoth payday is the only thing that will lure his friend back to the ring.
“If you look at what Tyson Fury has done now for himself, but for the British fans and the sport of boxing … if he wants to retire he can. But me knowing Tyson, if he gets bored it won’t take a lot for him to come out of retirement.
“I know he asked for 500 million and I think realistically, if that [AJ] was to be made they’ve got to meet that sort of money to make this happen.
“He’s probably earned 500 million, what does he need to go back in training camp for now, put himself under stress and take shots as a heavyweight at his age? … I think that it would be a lot of money for Tyson to have to do that, and I believe the figure he’s mentioned, they’ll have to meet that sort of criteria for the fight to happen.
“This is what I believe… no fight is worth 500 million. It if it’s split two ways then can that happen? I don’t know. It all depends where the fight is, how big is it, what public interest. There’s all that before any financial decisions. I know one thing, it will have to be the biggest payday yet for him to come out of retirement.”
The purses for the Fury vs Joshua bout will not be in that ballpark, but given the interest in the fight, it could well still involve eye watering sums.
