Boxer Tyson Fury announces retirement, again

Tyson Fury, the 34-year-old still-undefeated heavyweight champion, announced on social media on Friday that he was planning to call a halt to his professional boxing career.

"Massive thanks to everyone who had an input in my career over the years and after long hard conversations [I've finally] decided to walk away and on my 34th birthday I say bon voyage," Fury wrote on Twitter.

He went on to extend thanks to a number of people for their help with his career over the years, most notably his wife Paris "who helped me more than anyone." 

This might have come as a surprise to fans and observers, seeing as Fury had said as recently as Tuesday that he was working with a new trainer and was trying to set up fresh fights. The UK national was hoping to claim all heavyweight champions' belts of the world — he is now holding two out of four.

While announcing his retirement, Fury did not say what had prompted his change of heart, although a post of his from Thursday appeared to offer a clue. 

On Tuesday, Fury had posted a short video clip to Twitter with his new coach Isaac Clowe, saying that Clowe would be his new trainer and would prepare him for his next fight against Derek Chisora.

Then, on Thursday, Fury posted another short video without comment, tagging Chisora directly. In it, he said: "Do you know? The funny thing is, people love to do deals, and then ask for more or change the goalposts. But the usual thing for me is, that I tell them to go get f------, so there we are." 

Never say never? Fury's no stranger to comebacks

After his last fight in April, a win by technical knockout against Dillian Whyte, Fury said that he had "promised his wife" he would quit boxing. This would put an end to his career after 33 professional bouts, 32 wins (23 of them by knockout) and just one draw on points. 

Fury had also gone through an on-again-off-again flirtation with retirement between 2016 and 2017 brought on by a variety of factors. A rematch clause in his contract, guaranteeing another fight against Wladimir Klitschko, who he had beaten in late 2015, forced Fury to give up one of the titles. This was because he could not meet the IBF boxing federation's requirement that he fight its chosen challenger next. 

Around the same time, Fury started struggling with alcoholism, recreational drug use and extreme weight gain. He was also charged with anti-doping violations and was suspended from competition for a period, when he gave up his remaining titles. 

He mounted a comeback in 2018, and by February 2020 he had reclaimed his WBC and The Ring titles, which he retains to this day. But should his latest retirement bid be for real, he will have to give them up again, despite nobody ever having bested Fury in a professional bout yet.

msh/dj (AFP, AP)