Tyson Fury has retired – again.

“The Gypsy King” has announced his departure from the sport several times throughout the years, but after two close losses against Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, and a lucrative showdown waiting in the wings against Anthony Joshua, the former heavyweight champion Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) has decided to call it quits on his career at the age of 36.

“I’m gonna make this short and sweet,” Fury said on Monday. “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 was met with cynicism across the boxing world because most believe he’s using the move as a bargaining chip to drive up the price for the showdown against Joshua.

Rival promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who handles Joshua, is skeptical that Fury will forever sit on the sidelines.

“I think if you haven’t got the heart for it anymore and you don’t want to compete, I think retirement is the best option,” said Hearn. “I’m disappointed obviously for British fight fans because we’ve got the chance to make the biggest fight in boxing. If that is the last we see of him, he’s had a great career. I doubt it, but it’s always been to come into retirement to make sure someone pays you to come out of retirement. But if that’s his lot, all the respect to him and I wish him all the best. I just think if I was looking for the right deal, I’d go into retirement too, but I can’t speak on his behalf. That’s just what I would do. I think it’s a natural play, but maybe that’s his lot. I don’t know him well enough to comment, really.”

Over the last few weeks, Joshua, who is coming off a cruising KO loss to Daniel Dubois in September, has insisted that the long-anticipated fight against Fury needs to happen next.

“I ain’t got many years ahead of me,” Joshua said Saturday during The Ring Awards in London. “I've had more years behind me than I have in front of me. So I want to leave the game with a bang and make an impact: be outlandish, great character, have fun with it while we’re doing it and go for the big fights, and Tyson Fury is one of them.”

“Every time I see people, they’re saying, 'When are you fighting Fury?' The Irish community, the English community, the Nigerian community – everyone is asking me the same question. So as a fighter it’s up to me to deliver. It has to happen this year … I think we can definitely make this fight happen.

"These conversations [we're having now] start the ball rolling if I am honest. If we are not talking about Tyson Fury, you know it's not happening. I saw that Turki Alalshikh did an interview recently and he mentioned that it's a fight he wants to see. We're talking about it, so I’m sure that it will happen."