Tyson Fury said after his knockout of Deontay Wilder in February that he planned to fight two more times and then retire because of the sport’s sometimes-overwhelming demands.
Well, time and some rest can provide a different perspective. The 31-year-old heavyweight titleholder now says that he could be around another eight-plus years.
“I’m going to fight on ’til I’m 40 years old,” he told ESPN. “I’ve been thinking about it, and there isn’t much else to do anyways. So yeah, I may as well keep fighting. I don’t see anyone out there that can challenge me anyway.
“I just flattened the best one out there, the toughest opponent out there is Deontay Wilder, and we all saw what happened to him the last time out.”
Fury told ITV a few weeks after the Wilder fight the end of his career was near.
“I’ll come back, and I’ll have two more fights, and hopefully we’ll sail into the sunset,” he said. “It is a roller coaster of emotions, and everything else. And to be away from the kids and away from getting up early for school runs and the crying and all that stuff, and the screaming and shouting, it takes a lot to come back to that after being away for nearly three months, to get adjusted back to that life.”
Fury and Wilder are scheduled to fight for a third time but, because of the coronavirus pandemic, no date or site is set.
There is also talk of Fury going directly into a showdown with Anthony Joshua for all four of the major titles, but Wilder and Joshua’s scheduled opponent, Kubrat Pulev, would have to agree to step aside.