Tyson Fury has announced that he will return to boxing in 2026, nearly a year after announcing his retirement from the ring.
After losing three of his four major world titles by two points to heavyweight rival Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024, Fury confirmed he was calling an end to his professional career the following month.
But Fury, who said he intended to take a break from the sport after defeating Dillian Whyte in April 2022 but returned later that year, posted on Instagram on Sunday: “2026 is the year. Mack’s return.”
“I was away for a while, but now I’m back and at 37 years old, I’m still punching.
“There’s nothing better than punching a man in the face and getting paid for it.”
Fury has made several U-turns since retiring, so few believed his recent claims that he was ending a career that had brought him 34 wins in 37 races and several stints as world champion.
He was furious at the referee’s decisions in his two defeats to Usyk, the only boxer to beat Fury, and said in his retirement message last year: “This is it. Dick Turpin wore a mask.”
But the self-proclaimed Gypsy King posted several clips of himself training on his social media feed, fueling speculation that he could make a comeback over the Christmas period.
Despite Fury claiming he has stepped back from the sport, a long-awaited all-British bout with Anthony Joshua, another former world heavyweight champion, has been repeatedly rumored.
The two men, who held all major world titles, had agreed to meet in August 2021, but that agreement was scrapped after an arbitration hearing ordered Fury to face Deontay Wilder for a third time.
Fury could face Oleksandr Usyk in a rematch of their previous fight
Joshua and Fury had been training earlier this year, with plans in the works for an eventual match-up towards the end of the summer or the end of 2026.
However, the 36-year-old’s boxing career is likely to be on hold after a car crash in Nigeria on Monday left him injured and killed a close friend and two team members.
If Joshua is unavailable, Fury could seek a three-division fight with Usyk, who holds the WBC, WBA and IBF belts, or a fight with WBO champion Fabio Wardley. If Fury wins either fight, he will join Muhammad Ali as a three-time world heavyweight champion.
