Tyson Fury informs WBC that he has retired from boxing

We’ve been down this road before, but “The Gypsy King” has apparently taken things to another level. On Friday, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman posted a video message on Twitter explaining that he’d received an announcement from Ring heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. “Just finished a touching video conference with @Tyson_Fury who has confirmed his official retirement […]

The post Tyson Fury informs WBC that he has retired from boxing appeared first on The Ring.

We’ve been down this road before, but “The Gypsy King” has apparently taken things to another level.

On Friday, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman posted a video message on Twitter explaining that he’d received an announcement from Ring heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.

“Just finished a touching video conference with @Tyson_Fury who has confirmed his official retirement from boxing,” said Sulaiman. “We fully support his decision, which is a dream for anyone to retire undefeated and as WBC champion of the world. @WBCBoxing will prepare a special farewell event soon.”

Fury, who today celebrates his 34th birthday, is coming off a terrific sixth-round knockout win over Dillian Whyte in April. The champion put on an excellent display before a crowd of 94,000 at Wembley Stadium in London… then he retired.

Well, kind of.

“Is that final?” I asked Fury at the post-fight presser.

“I definitely think so,” was the antithetical response.

With the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch all but finalized at that point, few believed that Fury could walk away. A clash with the winner would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis and present a career-high payday.

Having defeated Whyte, the WBC mandatory challenger, Fury was under no obligation to vacate any of his titles. And “I definitely think so” sounded like the Englishman was already hedging his bets.

And just days ago, Fury was calling out countryman Derek Chisora – a fighter he’s soundly defeated twice – for a third encounter.

We’ve learned to expected the unexpected from Fury, but notifying a sanctioning organization of his wish to retire is something new.

“Massive thanks to everyone who had an input in my career over the years,” Fury stated via social media. “After long hard conversations, [I’ve] finally decided to walk away and on my 34th birthday I say ‘Bon Voyage.’”

The Ring will reach out to Fury in due course.

The post Tyson Fury informs WBC that he has retired from boxing appeared first on The Ring.