Making sense of Tyson Fury’s comeback

Fury is back.

Tyson Fury’s exile from the ring ended last November when he moved closer than ever to agreeing to a fight with his long-standing rival Anthony Joshua. It was the end of his latest retirement.

A Joshua fight vanished just before the end of December when the boxer was involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria and lost two of his closest friends; Joshua should be left to his grief, his name left out of all boxing conversations until he starts to speak.

Fury officially announced the end of his retirement last weekend, confirming all reports about his private time in the gym, his desire to fight, and his endless search for what boxing gives him. It seems that Fury needs the sport to live a happy life. The pain of fighting helped him during his darkest battles with depression. It was his rehab.

It is not his first comeback after years away from the ring, and he needs a gentle process of rebuilding. This comeback might have to be different. He might have to accept hard fights, riskier moves, and with Joshua out of the picture, it is uncertain where the big lad goes.

Fury was just 29 when he returned in 2018 after 2 years and seven months away – he is now 37 and arguably has not won a meaningful fight since October of 2021.

On that night in Las Vegas, Fury was dropped, hurt, but did eventually knock out Deontay Wilder in the 11th round of a heavyweight classic. There is an argument that the fight was the best and the last of both men. Still, boxers are addicted to chasing memories and Fury is no different.

Deontay Wilder had 39 knockouts in 40 fights before he met Tyson Fury.

But the Gypsy King took his best shots across three fights and rose from the canvas every time! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/1o2TjWnM9k

— Boxing on TNT Sports (@boxingontnt) October 18, 2021

The fight with Joshua, which was at the most advanced stage ever back in early December, was the only fight that made sense for Fury. It had been seriously discussed for over six years. Then Joshua got the late, late call to fight Jake Paul and then he went to Lagos. The fight was still on.

It would, as we say, sell itself; a grand night under the stars at Wembley with the two ancient warriors finally settling their own battle of Britain. It’s gone, probably forever.

Fury is now left to find a route, find a way to an unknown destination in the shifting heavyweight landscape. He last fought in December 2024 when he lost for the second time to Oleksandr Usyk. It was not vintage; Fury looked old, slow, and uninterested at times. The retirement after that loss was easy to predict – the return, less so.

There are a lot of men available, keen to fight Fury and share some of the rich spoils from that entanglement. In the last few days, Fury has talked about his willingness to fight the unbeaten duo of current WBO champion Fabio Wardley and Germany’s Agit Kabayel.

On Saturday in Oberhausen, Kabayel fights and Fury’s half-brother, Roman, is on the undercard; a cameo at ringside by Fury is possible. It will be the start of the return, and he will challenge the world. The pantomime season will be extended.

Wardley and Kabayel will not be in the opposite corner when Fury returns, and neither will Moses Itauma, the best prospect in the heavyweight world.

There are a lot of contenders for the first sacrifice, a long-list of men with suitable credentials, men that bring a name, a degree of controlled risk and will look good when they are stopped in about eight rounds.

In 2018, Fury stopped the veteran Sefer Seferi, four stone lighter than him, in four rounds to end his retirement; there will be nobody like Seferi when Fury strips to fight in March or April.

There is a Russian called Murat Gassiev, an American-Cuban called Frank Sanchez and a wildly romantic option in Derek “Del Boy” Chisora, who is looking for an opponent for his 50th and final fight.

Fury has beaten Del Boy three times, but Chisora is on a quality roll, and Fury will be ending an 18-month break. Stranger things have happened in the world of heavyweight boxing. Two months ago, Paul vs Joshua would have been more unbelievable than Fury vs Chisora 4!

There are about 25 men with the right credentials to fight Fury in his return and there is a chance that a random name like Joe Joyce, Tony Yoka or Guido Vianello will get the lottery ticket.

All would be acceptable, and all would let Fury ease out of retirement and get him ready for hard fights. They could also, quite easily, remind Fury just how tough the business he once ruled can be for fallen idols. Most returns end in tears.