Ranking every Tyson Fury retirement claim as latest reveal has fight fans certain Anthony Joshua is next

The Gypsy King has dropped strong hints that he will be returning to the ring before the end of the year

Boxing fans will tell you to take anything that Tyson Fury says with a pinch of salt.

And in the same week that 46-year-old Manny Pacquiao announced his shock return to the ring at the age of 46 to fight Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight world title - it looks for all the world that the Gypsy King is gearing up for ANOTHER comeback.

The two-time heavyweight world champion announced his latest retirement back in January following consecutive defeats to rival Oleksandr Usyk, the only man to get the better of the Lancashire boxer in his 17-year-long professional career.

But in a series of social media posts in the past two weeks, the 36-year-old has hinted that his fighting days are not done yet. Fury has been clipped training and hitting the pads with coach SugarHill Steward, who helped the heavyweight score huge wins against the likes of Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in recent years.

With Usyk and Daniel Dubois fighting for the undisputed heavyweight title in July, a comeback for Fury at some point this year could coincide with Anthony Joshua's ring-return. The 2012 Olympic gold medallist was knocked out by Dubois in an IBF world title tilt last September but is still determined to become a three-time world champion.

However, the 35-year-old is set to go under the knife for an elbow problem, meaning that he won't be able to step into the ring until the second half of the year at least.

But with Fury's failure to step away from boxing for good set to continue, Record Sport look at the five occasions down the years where the Gypsy King falsely claimed that he would never lace up the gloves again.

November 2013

A furious Fury announced his first 'retirement' at the age of 25 after a proposed showdown with David Haye fell through.

The domestic rivals were set to get it on twice in late 2013 and early 2014, only for Haye to pull out on both occasions with an injury. A livid Fury accused his opponent of ducking him and vowed that he would call it a day. He said on social media at the time: "Hi everyone, I have officially retired from boxing. There's too many b--- people in the sport. They will have to f--- someone else. Goodbye boxing."

He then doubled down the next day: "Just to confirm I'm not in a bad mood or anything. I've retired 1000000% no matter what ill never fight again!"

Unsurprisingly, those claims proved to be futile with the 6ft 9 in giant returning to the ring to knock out US heavyweight Joey Abell in February 2014.

October 2016

Nearly three years later, Fury's career in the sport looked to be over, albeit for very different reasons.

The Gypsy King had upset the applecart 11 months earlier when he outpointed long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany to become unified world champion for the first time.

The pair quickly signed up for a rematch in 2016 that would take place in the champion's home city of Manchester. But after the fight date had to be pushed back twice, it was confirming that Fury would be vacating all his titles amid his ongoing battle against cocaine and drug substance abuse.

A few weeks later, the British Boxing Board of Control stripped the fighter of his license to fight and it wasn't until June 2019 that Fury was cleared to fight again, scoring a landslide points victory against fringe contender Sefer Sefri on his comeback.

August 2017

While his case to regain his BBoC license was being contested in the courts, Fury had announced other retirement, with the heavyweight also going through another battle with boxing's Ant-Doping organisation.

He wrote on Instagram at the time: m: "Been very blessed in my life & career achieve the upmost [sic] in boxing, was a epic journey along the way. Thanks to all the fans that supported & believed in me along the way. Hope you enjoy [sic] it as much as I did. THE END."

April 2022

After launching his successful comeback in 2018, Fury was back on top of the world within two years, after knocking out American rival Wilder to become WBC heavyweight world champion for the first time.

The towering fighter made a string of title defences, most notably against fellow Englishman Dillian Whyte in front of 90,000 fans at Wembley in April 2022.

But despite stopping his opponent in devastating fashion, in his post-fight interview, Fury announced that he would be calling it quits on his career, vowing to go out at the top.

That retirement boast lasted just over six months, with Fury coming back to face Chisora for a third time in the following December, winning the bout by a 10th round stoppage.

January 2025

Fury's latest claim that he would never fight again came at the end of January.

The Gypsy King had lost out to Usyk on two narrow points decisions in his last two bouts, the first of which was contested for all four major belts in the division for the very first time.

But just weeks after his December loss to the Ukrainian, Fury announced that he was done with the sport.

He said in a video on Instagram: He said: "I am going to make this short and sweet. I'd like to announce my retirement from boxing. It's been a blast and I've loved every single minute of it and I am going to end with this. Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody and see you on the other side. Get up!"

If the past 12 years are anything to go by, the chances of Tyson Fury stepping into a ring again are remarkably high, and if it means that we finally get to see a long-awaited showdown with Anthony Joshua, there won't be too many complaints.