Jan 4 (Reuters) - Former lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said on Sunday that he will come out of retirement this year for his first fight since losing to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024.
Fury announced his retirement after losing a rematch with Ukraine's Usyk, who had won by split decision in their first bout to become the undisputed champion. Usyk is the only boxer to beat Fury in the Briton's professional career, which includes 34 wins, two losses, and one draw.
"2026 is that year. Return of the Mac. Been away for a while but I'm back now, 37 years old and still punching. Nothing better to do than punch men in the face & get paid for it," Fury posted on Instagram.
Fury, nicknamed 'The Gypsy King', had previously spent over two-and-a-half years away from the ring as he went through mental health struggles after his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 to take the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles.
He returned to action in 2018, and knocked out Deontay Wilder to win the WBC heavyweight belt in February 2020. Fury again announced retirement in 2022, only to come back six months later.
In the past, fellow Briton and former champion Anthony Joshua had called out Fury for a fight multiple times, including after last month's knockout win over Jake Paul.
"If Tyson Fury is as serious as he thinks he is... step in the ring with me next, if you're a real bad boy. Don't do all that talking, AJ this, AJ that. Let's see you in the ring and talk with your fists," Joshua had said last month.
Joshua recently spent a few days in hospital after suffering minor injuries in a car crash in Nigeria that killed two of his friends. He was discharged from hospital on Thursday, a day before police charged his driver with dangerous driving over the fatal collision.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru)
