Tyson Fury makes retirement feelings clear after crushing defeat to Oleksandr Usyk - 'Where does it all end?'

Tyson Fury makes retirement feelings clear after crushing defeat to Oleksandr Usyk - 'Where does it all end?'

WATCH NOW: Reaction as Oleksandr Usyk stuns Tyson Fury

Jack Otway

By Jack Otway


Published: 19/05/2024

- 16:06

Updated: 19/05/2024

- 16:07

The Gypsy King opened up after his loss in Saudi Arabia

Tyson Fury has made it clear he'll only retire from boxing once he no longer loves it after losing to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night.

The Gypsy King had gone into the bout looking drastically slimmer when when he narrowly beat Francis Ngannou back in October.


Yet while Fury performed well in Saudi Arabia, Usyk reigned supreme after stunning his rival with a flurry of powerful punches in the ninth round of the fight.

It means Usyk, rather than his rival, is now undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Tyson Fury boxing

Tyson Fury has opened up on when he'll 'pack it in' after losing to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia

GETTY

After tasting defeat for the first time as a professional, Fury made it clear he remains passionate about boxing.

And he also said he'll only hang up his gloves once he loses the desire to enter the ring, too.

“I'm not boxing because I've got no money, I'm boxing because I love it," explained the 35-year-old at his post-fight press conference.

“I'm 36 in a few months, I've been boxing since I was a child. Where does it all end?

“You have 100 fights and you have brain damage and are in a wheelchair?

“For as long as I'm loving the game, I'll continue to do it, and when I don't, I'll pack it up.”

In the immediate aftermath of his defeat, Fury appeared to suggest Usyk only won due to sympathy for the war in Ukraine.

Yet he insists he enjoyed his evening, despite feeling he was the better man on the night.

“I'm not a judge and I can't judge a fight while I'm boxing it," he added.

“If they'd said to me before the last round that I was down I would have gone and tried to finish it but everyone in the corner believed we were up.

“All I had to do was just keep boxing and keep doing what I was doing and I was getting it.

“I'm not going to cry about it, i've had plenty of victories.

“I was having a lot of fun, i was playing around, I had my hands around my back, i was enjoying it.”

Fury has more experience than Usyk, having fought 14 more times than his rival over the years.

However, despite also boasting a huge size advantage, he was simply unable to floor the Ukrainian.

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Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury took a battering as he lost to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia

REUTERS

And Johnny Nelson, speaking to Sky Sports, thinks Fury was guilty of complacency.

"Usyk started smart, Tyson decided to showboat and say 'I'm better than you' rather than showing he's better than him," he said.

"He'll regret the showboating, but maybe at the same time it was him trying to hustle and get the better of Usyk.

"For the first quarter, Usyk did the right thing, then Tyson started to find the measure of himself, find the length.

"Tyson was basically on the back foot the entire time, the times when he put his foot down and pushed Usyk were the times when he had the successes.

Oleksandr Usyk

Tyson Fury congratulated Oleksandr Usyk on his victory in the aftermath of their boxing bout

REUTERS

"He lost belief in that, what do you do? There's the showboating.

"You can be busy looking good, but you going to lose while you do it."

Nelson continued: "Complacency kicked in, it's him thinking 'I'm king, you come to me'.

"Tyson was trying to hustle his way through the pressure, and Usyk was consistent from the off."

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