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By: Sean Crose
In a world where people on the street no longer know who the heavyweight champion of the world is (Thank you boxing organizations!) Tyson Fury has shown he has the personality to draw in attention. Although he doesn’t own all four (that’s right, four) major heavyweight titles, the giant Englishman has at least one in his possession and is also regarded as the lineal heavyweight champion of the world (the man who beat the man who beat the man dating all the way back to the 1890s). Although Oleksandr Usyk holds all other heavyweight crowns, it’s Fury who is widely regarded as the top dog of the division.
And with good reason. Fury not only holds the aforementioned lineal title, he’s beaten Deontay Wilder – perhaps the hardest hitting boxer ever – two out of three times, getting his enormous frame off the mat (thanks to Wilder’s thunderous punches) numerous times in the process. With all due respect to the enormously talented and undefeated Usyk, he hasn’t taken out the kind of divisional lineup Fury has, at least not yet. In fact, Fury proved how dominant he is this past April by knocking out top contender Dillian Whyte in thunderous, one punch fashion.
Then something strange happened, or perhaps something not so strange if you’ve followed Fury’s career for any length of time: Fury announced his retirement. He’s done this before, Fury has. After he stunned a whole lot of people by besting then heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015, Fury, overwhelmed by personal demons, retired from the sport of boxing. After overcoming those demons – and, interestingly enough, being open with the media about them – Fury returned to work his way back to heavyweight glory. There’s reason, then, for the WBC to be hesitant to remove it’s title from around Fury’s thick waist this time around, that reason being the guy may well change his mind.
Still, Fury appears determined to keep out of the sport of boxing. “I’ve just read today that I’m supposed to be coming out of retirement,” Fury recently claimed on an Instagram post. “That’s news to me. As far as I’m concerned I’m staying (out of the ring).” Fury, though, is apt to say all kinds of things. Sometimes he can leave the impression that he’s simply messing with the media. Also, it gets boring out there for retired sports starts. For the time being, though, the fighter known as “The Gypsy King” appears to be content away from the sweet science.
