Tyson Fury will make a spectacular return to boxing next year, according to Saudi Arabia’s boxing kingpin Turki Alalshikh.
Alalshikh says that Fury has given him his word that he will step back in the ring, sparking the chance of a third showdown with Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury hung up his gloves in January – for the fifth time in his career – a few weeks after losing to Usyk in a rematch for the unified heavyweight world titles.
The Gypsy King, 36, has insisted that his retirement is for good but in April he fuelled hope of a comeback after linking back up with his trainer SugarHill Steward.
Alalshikh wrote on X: ‘The ‘Gypsy King’ will be back!!! I talked with him, and I have his word to have him in Riyadh Season in 2026. We have a rabbit to hunt!’
As well as another bout with Usyk, boxing fans have long been waiting to see Fury go toe-to-toe with fellow Englishman Anthony Joshua.
Tyson Fury will return to boxing next year, according to Saudi Arabia’s boxing chief
Turki Alalshikh says that Fury has given him his word he will make a return to boxing
Fury has said that a trilogy fight with Oleksandr Usyk is the only hook which could draw him in
Fury has repeatedly closed the door on a return – though his history of comebacks means you can never take his word too seriously – but gave fans a glimmer of hope with recent comments.
‘If I was gonna come back, I’d come back for Usyk,’ he said.
‘But I want a fair result in England. That’d be the one I want, immediately. That’d be the fight that I’d want next.
‘In England. I only want a f*****g fair fight! I don’t want any favours, I want a fair fight, a fair result.
‘I thought I won it [the rematch] by five rounds. I’ve watched it literally 250 times, and each way, I never, ever see it as there’s a way for him to win.
‘But, they can do what they want. If they say it’s Tuesday, it’s Tuesday.’
He added: ‘What would I be coming back for? I’ve won every belt, so yeah there’s not much to come back for. Does the love of the sport overthrow my own health?
The reporter responds in the negative, to which Fury concludes: ‘I think you’ve answered your own question there.’
Fury has already reneged on four retirements, so it is not unthinkable he would do so again
Fury dropped a retirement U-turn hint after training with SugarHill Steward in April
If he does not return to fight with Usyk again, he will always have an axe to grind over the circumstances of that last defeat.
All three judges handed Usyk the fight 116-112 in December, with Fury storming out of the ring shortly after the decision was announced.
He gave no interview in the immediate aftermath, but later told Sky Sports Boxing: ‘I swear to God, I thought I won by three rounds!’
ESPN reported that Fury also said: ‘I thought I won the fight again, I was Larry Holmesed again. I was on the front foot the entire time. When you don’t get the knockout this is what can happen.’
The financial lure of Riyadh may also be too tempting to resist. His fortune almost doubled from £82.3 million to £162 million last year after his first fight with Usyk – and we don’t even know the exact figures from after the second fight.
But the Wythenshawe wonder has been busying himself with sundry other tasks and delighting in the freedom retirement affords him.
He was one of England’s managers at Soccer Aid – even dropping an f-bomb in ITV’s live broadcast – and was also spotted sauntering round the Scottish town of Grantown-on-Spey in a kilt recently.
The Gypsy King was posing for the cameras in filming for season two of his Netflix series ‘At Home with The Furys’.
Netflix confirmed another run of the show after the nine-part first series garnered positive reviews and a mammoth 2.6million viewers on the opening episode alone.
Cameras have been trailing Fury for weeks for more content with Fury, childhood sweetheart wife Paris, and their seven children.
