Tyson Fury could end brief retirement for Oleksandr Usyk trilogy fight

Tyson Fury’s retirement — once again — may not last long.

The former heavyweight champion could return for a 2026 trilogy fight against Oleksandr Usyk, with the sides “in talks” for the bout, according to The Athletic.

The 36-year-old Fury most recently called it a career in January after losing to Usyk for the second consecutive time.

Before that, Fury said he was retiring in 2022, which followed social media retirement announcements in 2013 and 2017.

While Fury posted and hinted that the fight would take place April 18 at Wembley Stadium, according to The Athletic, the outlet added talks “remain ongoing” — and it’s unclear if Fury’s retirement would end for just this fight or would include a return for others in the future, too.

Usyk would serve as a fitting opponent for Fury, as Fury fell to the 38-year-old in December via unanimous decision and in May 2024 by split decision, the latter serving as Fury’s first professional loss.

“I believe I won that fight,” Fury told reporters following the first loss, according to the Associated Press. “I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them, and I believe it was one of those what-can-you-do, one of them. … decisions in boxing. We both put on a good fight, best we can do. “… Make no mistake, I won that fight, in my opinion, and I’ll be back. I’ve got a rematch clause.”

After his loss in December, Fury posted a video to Instagram and announced his boxing career was over, finishing with a 32-2-1 record. The lone draw occurred against Deontay Wilder in 2018.

“Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet,” Fury said in the video. “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it. … God bless everybody, see you on the other side.”

Fury, nicknamed “The Gypsy King,” first became a heavyweight champion in 2015 after defeating Wladimir Klitschko, and he maintained his dominance with high-profile victory after high-profile victory until the pair of losses against Usyk.

Usyk is scheduled to next fight Daniel Dubois after Usyk won during their initial bout in 2023.