PROMOTER Eddie Hearn believes Tyson Fury is unlikely to stick to his latest retirement plan and will return to the ring to cash in on the biggest fights remaining.
Speaking to the DAZN crew shortly after Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan exchanged words in Belfast ahead of their March 1 fight, Hearn got on to the topic of Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury finally getting down to business.
Expecting Joshua to return to the ring around May or June, Hearn checked a variety of names, including Deontay Wilder, who returns soon against Curtis Harper and Daniel Dubois, who is chasing a Usyk rematch if he first dismisses Joseph Parker on February 22.
Another name mentioned was Dillian Whyte, who scuppered his last potential AJ shot in 2023 and was last seen huffing, puffing and eventually blowing down a surprisingly stubborn Ebenezer Tetteh in Gibraltar.
Referencing Martin Bakole’s latest call-out, which had apparently irked Joshua, the Matchroom main man said it is best to leave Tyson Fury to his own devices while adding that he struggles to believe the former champion will leave future fights and cash on the table.
“I think he [Fury] still feels that he won that fight against Usyk. I think that’s where he talks about Dick Turpin and that kind of stuff. AJ started calling him out. Usyk had a little bit of a dig at the awards. Maybe he’s just gone, right…” guessed Eddie.
“The day you start to predict what’s going on in Tyson’s head, you’re going to be there all day. So if he has retired, he’s had a wonderful career, he’s been a brilliant servant to British boxing, good luck to him.”
Hearn’s gut feeling is that Tyson will return for one last run. Many fans and pundits feel the same. A 360-degree turn could see Fury and AJ get it on in a Wembley extravaganza before the close of 2025. Perhaps Fury has faux retired to raise the asking price a little higher to walk back into a big payday.
“Again, in one of my interviews, I said, it’s the kind of thing I’d do [retire], because it might get you a better deal,” speculated Hearn.
“It’s almost like, you want to bring me out of retirement, mate? You better show me what’s on the table. But when the dust settles and you’re sitting at home, and you’re a couple of weeks in or a couple of months in, and you’re a little bit bored, and you’ve got the buzz of 100 plus thousand people at Wembley Stadium. The biggest fight in the sport, and the greatest fight in British boxing history, are you going to leave it on the table? We shall see.”
