Fury’s claim that he will retire from boxing post-Whyte

Possibilities:

1. He's telling the truth: achieved everything he’s wanted to as a boxer, fire isn't there anymore, carrying injuries and wear, legs have diminished badly, believes that Usyk may well beat him (especially in light of recent events: in a close fight, the judges are surely more likely now to give the decision to the Ukrainian and the referee would tend to hinder Fury’s inside mauling). He wants to retire at the top with great riches, without any more miles on the clock and pursue newfound opportunities outside the ring

2. Fury may suspect that he would receive relatively little credit for beating Usyk, who would be retconned as “past his best”, merely a “pumped up, featherfisted cruiserweight” and “only beat an Andy Ruiz victim” anyway, with subsequent claims that he’s scared to fight AJ/Joyce/Hrgovic/Dubois etc. etc.

3. He doesn't see the Usyk/undisputed fight happening any time soon due to the uncertain duration of the war in Ukraine and possible fallout (Usyk dying or retiring, possibly due to injury or his family, extended family or friends suffering death or injury or Usyk being heavily involved in the rebuilding of the country in the aftermath) the Usyk-AJ rematch clause, Usyk possibly wanting an activity fight as AJ would like to have before any rematch, plus months to prepare and recover before and after every fight. Fury isn't willing, able or both to wait around indefinitely or to fight 2-3 unifications (and however many fights in between) for vacant belts that he won 6+ years ago and never lost in the ring

4. He’s telling the truth in the moment but erratic as he is, he may have a completely different opinion tomorrow or in two months’ time

5. It's a publicity stunt designed to drive clicks, interest, debate, ticket sales and PPV’s for “Fury’s last fight” against Whyte

6. It's intended to help encourage Wilder out of retirement

7. It's mind games, intended to create uncertainty for his rivals

8. He wants to focus entirely on Whyte and telling himself that this is his last fight helps him to do so

9. The "retirement" is a Mayweather-esque strategic retirement: he needs time for injuries to heal, the absence of PED testing and to study, age and wear out rivals

10. It's a pre-emptive negotiation tactic to make more money down the road now that his 5 fight ESPN contract has almost been concluded: he'll have to be paid a king's ransom to be "coaxed" out of “retirement” in 12-18 months and there will be even more public interest (thus money, status) for his next comeback

Any others?

 

He made reference to this in a pre-Wilder 3 press conference, perhaps partly tongue in cheek. Leaving the sport for 2.5 years allowed Wilder and AJ to build records, make a good number of defences and reduced ring-related wear for Fury. The downside was he lived a terrible lifestyle and was out of the gym for most of that time, so he probably set himself back in terms of longevity and overall skillset. But in a way even that benefits him as it made his comeback all the more remarkable. Had Fury beaten Wilder when he had only 4 or 5 defences it would have been less impressive and significant than beating him when he had 10. The AJ megafight was marinating well until mid-2019 but then its value took a nosedive, and once again before the trilogy had been concluded. AJ is being cannibalised by Usyk, who would be a much more significant opponent for Fury anyway from a hardcore perspective. Maybe Fury could repeat the trick once again in a couple of years, depending on whether he matches up well with the future champion but there have to be limits, especially with the prior punishment he's heaped on his body.

 

I don't really count that as boxing as it would be under a hybrid set of rules. Fury said that he would fight Ngannou after he retired from boxing.

 

It will probably happen sometime next year yeah

 

"4. He’s telling the truth in the moment but erratic as he is, he may have a completely different opinion tomorrow or in two months’ time"

It's very possible that there's nothing to it but I don't discount his retirement talk either, he didn't just said it once off the cuff and there are reasons to believe that he's coming to the end of his career.