THE GYPSY KING GOES ALL IN
he should be able to look good against his opponent. Fury suggests otherwise: “The man is 6-foot-6, 19 stone (266 pounds) – a big-punching knockout artist. He’s a tough man. He’s match-fit. He’s coming off wins. He knocked out the Canadian Olympian (Ricardo Brown, who represented Jamaica in the 2020 games), 6-foot-8 man, and he just beat Dave Allen over 12 rounds. “I’ve been out the ring 16 months, coming off two losses, not match-fit. Never had a fight, never sparred for over a year. Yeah, it’s definitely a tough one for me. I’d say it’s 60-40, in his favor. “But like I say, and I’ve said it a million times: When it comes down to the nitty-gritty and we’re in the trenches and in the warfare and around round five or six, and it’s him or me, this man’s gonna quit before I will, because you have to kill me in that boxing ring to make me quit.” Rounding out his comeback bucket list is a superfight that has long been marinating. “After that, I want Anthony Joshua – the fight that has eluded the British public and the world for the last 10 years. It’s a fight that needs to happen. It was supposed to have happened three or four times already when we were world champions. It didn’t happen; but it can happen now. “The man’s got some mourning time to do. He’s had a horrific thing to deal with. And if he continues, we get the fight on. If he doesn’t, so be it.” Joshua notwithstanding, Fury isn’t too bothered about the other names in the division. He has his eye on the winner of Fabio Wardley vs. Daniel Dubois, but this is largely a transactional means to grabbing the WBO belt and becoming a heavyweight champion again. Whether it’s skill or the numbers they bring, Fury still sees himself as levels above the rest.
because he won’t be able to get any money off anybody and he won’t be able to fight anybody – not unless he wants to do it for buttons. “He knows the cash cow is here. The only way he can get paid is from me. So by the end of the year, he’ll be begging me for a fight. You watch. You heard it here first.” Since the end of December 2025, Tyson Fury has been in full social media overdrive, posting several times a day to his followers. It feels like a throwback to 2018, when he chronicled his road to recovery and branded his resurgence from mental health struggles as the “Return of The Mac.” The phrase has resurfaced in the early months of 2026. He repeats it often, has it emblazoned across his gymwear – not merely as a slogan, but as a guiding mantra. One might assume that reclaiming his mind, shedding a mountain of weight and preparing to face the then-formidable Wilder represented far greater hurdles. Fury has a different perspective. “This Return of the Mac mission is even better, because then I hadn’t lost. This time, I’ve got something to prove. I don’t want to go out of boxing as a loser. “I’ve still got two losses on my record, and I ain’t going out like that. I came into the game winning, and I’ll go out winning.” The distinction is telling. In 2018, Fury was fighting for survival – against himself as much as anyone else. In 2026, he is fighting to end his story on his terms. Tyson Fury will not leave this game quietly. He will play loudly, defiantly and with everything on the table. We should savor this final act, because whatever your temperature on Fury is, boxing won’t be the same without him. For now, a content and clear-minded Tyson Fury staring down the end of his career may be the most dangerous ace of all.
Usyk was tested to his very limits by Fury but still found a way to overcome the bigger man twice.
“All the other heavyweights in the division are all bums. They’re all stumps and got no voice. Boxing is not about two men punching lumps out of each other; boxing is show business and Hollywood. You have to be able to talk. You have to be able to sell.
“I’m still a mile in front of them all. I’ve got more talent in my little finger than in their whole bodies combined. That’s a fact.” A trilogy with Oleksandr Usyk is also on the table. Given the level of opposition that the
Ukrainian has faced, it’s surely fair to say that he deserves an opponent of his own choosing. Names like Wilder and Andy Ruiz have been fueling online rumors. Rico Verhoeven, a former kickboxing world champion from the Netherlands, is also in the mix.
They represent a lower tier for Usyk, but having paid his dues in both his cruiserweight and heavyweight campaigns, he should be able to call the shots – at least this once. Fury predicts: “By the end of the year, Usyk will be begging me for a fight,
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