Former heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has officially announced that he would be returning to the ring this year.
The British boxer, who has a history of retiring and coming back, gave the announcement on Sunday via an Instagram post.
In the post, Fury said: “2026 is that year. Return of the Mac. Been away for a while, but I’m back now. 37 years old and still punching. Nothing better to do than punch men in the face & get paid for it.”
Fury’s latest move is by no means a surprise to fans of the sport. After losing to Oleksandr Usyk for the second time in their December 2024 bout, The Gypsy King had then, in January 2025, said he was retiring.
In his words then, “It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it, and I’m going to end with this.”
That was his fifth retirement announcement, so it was unsurprising that more than half of boxing did not believe.
This was later made clearer towards the end of 2025, where his promoter, Frank Warren, said that a fight with Anthony Joshua could happen in 2026, and that was the only way to bring Fury out of retirement.
A former WBA , IBF, WBO, and WBC title holder, Fury reigned at the top of the heavyweight division, with victory after victory.
He remained undefeated for a long time, defeating some of the big names along the way, including Derek Chisora, Wladimir Klitschko, and Deontay Wilder, whom he defeated twice.
He remained the man to beat for many years, until back-to-back losses crashed his roll, leading to his retirement. Fury holds a career record of 34 wins out of 37 fights, 24 of those by knockout. He would be coming back, aiming for his first victory since barely beating Francis Ngannou in 2023.
Fury’s return would be much anticipated by both fans and critics, who remember Fury for his braggish behaviour, on and off the ring.
It’s unclear who his first opponent would be, especially as Joshua continues to recover from an accident he was involved in in the last week of 2025.
However, there is no shortage of men who would like to face Fury now, so a match could be announced in the coming weeks.
