Tyson Fury was one of the few elite-level boxers in the world who didn’t attend The Ring’s inaugural awards gala Saturday night in London.

The former WBC heavyweight champion further distanced himself from Oleksandr Usyk, Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois and other relevant heavyweights Monday by announcing his retirement. Fury, 36, stated during a short video posted through his Instagram account that he will walk from the unforgiving sport that made “The Gypsy King” rich and famous beyond his wildest dreams.

“I’m gonna make this short and sweet,” Fury said while seated behind the wheel of his car. “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast. I’ve loved every single minute of it. And I’m gonna end with this – Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody. See you on the other side.”

Fury’s announcement, during which he referred to a legendary English thief in Turpin, was immediately met with widespread skepticism online.

Not only has Fury gone back on retirement proclamations in the past, he also could make potentially nine figures for a long-awaited showdown with British rival and fellow former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua. Promoter Eddie Hearn told The Ring last week that he and Frank Warren, Fury’s longtime co-promoter, would approach Fury about boxing Joshua at Wembley Stadium in London later this year once the Manchester native had spent plenty of time with his family following a second defeat to Usyk late last month.

“If you haven’t got the heart for it anymore and you don’t wanna compete anymore, I think retirement is the best option,” Hearn said Monday in a video released via Matchroom Boxing’s YouTube channel. “It’s disappointing, obviously, for British fight fans because we’ve got a chance to make the biggest fight in boxing. But if that is the last we see of him, he’s had a great career. I doubt it. It’s always best to come into retirement to make sure someone pays you to come out of retirement. But if that’s his lot, much respect to him and wish him all the best.”

Hearn, Matchroom Boxing’s managing director, referred to Turki Alalshikh, new owner of The Ring. Alalshikh, as head of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, has helped finance many of the biggest, previously elusive bouts in boxing over the past 15 months, including both Usyk-Fury fights.

Ukraine’s Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) decisively defeated Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) by unanimous decision in their 12-round rematch December 21 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Usyk, a two-division undisputed champ, edged Fury by split decision in their fight fight May 18 at Kingdom Arena. The left-handed Usyk nearly knocked out the ever-resilient Fury late in the ninth round of their initial encounter.

The 6-foot-9 Fury, ranked No. 1 among The Ring’s top 10 heavyweight contenders, has been one of boxing’s most polarizing figures throughout much of his 16-year professional career.

Beset by drug, alcohol and mental health issues, Fury is most known in the ring for ending Wladimir Klitschko’s long heavyweight championship reign in November 2015, when he upset Ukraine’s Klitschko by unanimous decision in Dusseldorf, Germany, and his memorable trilogy with American knockout artist Deontay Wilder.