Tyson Fury is currently enjoying life away from the sport of boxing.
Fury sat at the top of the heavyweight divisions for a number of years. He became world champion by defeating the long-reigning Ukrainian puncher Wladimir Klitschko on away soil in Germany in 2015, but retired shortly after with mental health and addiction issues.
Upon his return in 2019, he dared to take on Deontay Wilder, the fearsome American knockout artist who at that point had stopped every man he ever faced, one at the second time of asking.
The first fight between the two ended in a draw after Fury was put down hard in the final round, but in the next two, the Brit got the better of the American and put him down several times on his way to two historic wins, which saw him attain and then retain the WBC belt.
Since those losses, Wilder has beaten Robert Helenius but lost on points to Joseph Parker and been knocked out by Zhilei Zhang. He has now been out of the ring for a year.
Speaking to Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry,‘The Gypsy King’ – who retired in January but is expected by many to return – urged his 39-year-old rival to hang up the gloves for good.
“Being truthful I’d like to see poor old Deontay retire from boxing. Since that trilogy we had, we took a lot of years out of each other’s lives. That war we had which ended in the 11th round by knockout, that takes a lot out of your tank and you don’t recover from fights like that. Between mine and Wilder’s trilogy, there was 10 knockdowns.
“It takes a lot out of a fighter and even when he’s come back and had a couple of fights since against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, he’s only a shadow of his former glory. The only thing that’s the same about Deontay is his name. I’d like to see him retire for sure before he does damage to himself.”
Despite Fury’s advice, Wilder returns this month against Tyrrell Herndon in Kansas as he attempts to keep his career alive. An impressive win will put him back in the mix for top fights, perhaps against Anthony Joshua, who is currently angling for a fight against Fury.
