Tyson Fury has made a habit over the years of retiring and then unretiring. The former heavyweight champion recently announced his intention to return to professional boxing in 2026.
Tyson Fury returns to the heavyweight division
Fury announced his return to boxing via a post on his Instagram, where he said: “2026 is that year Return of the Mac. Been away for a while but I’m back now, 37 years old and still punching,” Fury wrote. “Nothing better to do than punch men in the face & get paid for it.”
The “Gypsy King” was last seen in action in December 2024, losing by a unanimous decision — 116-112 on all three scorecards — to champion Oleksandr Usyk. That was an immediate rematch of their bout in May 2024, which Usyk also won, this time by a split decision, with scorecards of 115-112 and 114-113, while one judge had it 114-113 for Fury, crowning Usyk the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Anthony Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) has long been mentioned as a potential dance partner for Fury, but following his injuries in the recent fatal car accident in Nigeria, it remains to be seen whether Joshua will fight on.
Fury delivers fierce warning to rivals
Ahead of his expected comeback this year, Tyson Fury had plenty to say in a recent online video:
“Oh, I’m coming for ya. Whoever you are. On my return, as king, you will be overthrown. 100%. No doubt in my mind, I can reach the top again. 100,000,000% straight to the top. Within this year, I’ll be back on top of heavyweight boxing. You better believe that.
“And another thing. I see a few people talking about fighting me in my comeback, and oh, this person will beat me, that person will beat me. This person’s got power, and that person’s got power. They’ve all got power. Every heavyweight on earth, alive, has power. But the thing is, you gotta keep the big Gypsy King down.
“Like the late, great Brendan Ingle said: ‘To beat Tyson Fury, you gotta nail the c**t to the canvas.’ And when you do that, you need six-inch nails to keep me down, because I’ve beat the biggest puncher in history. Two of the top ten, number one and number 7. The biggest punchers in history. I beat them both. Power don’t mean s**t to me.
“All the big punchers, you gotta have balls. You gotta have big balls. A lot of them don’t have big balls. And my balls, you gotta carry them round in a f***ing wheel barrow they’re that big, as you’ve seen. I’ve fought the biggest and the best f***ing fighters in my generation and beat the lot. They give a couple of decisions away. Ok, I can live with that.
“But I refuse to go down. Go and watch round nine for b******s, the Usyk fight. Clipped me, legs gone, refused to go down. That’s a f***ing warrior. There’s no quit in me. You can cut my f***ing legs and arms off and I won’t quit. I’d bite ya f****ing face off then. The Gypsy King is back, don’t worry about that. Anyone can get it. Boom!” said Fury.
