When Tyson Fury left Wembley Stadium on Saturday night it appeared that they Gypsy King would be retiring after the fight with his undefeated record in tact. However, it has since been claimed by former light-welterweight world champion Ricky Hatton that Fury is far from done in the sport and that a unification bout against either Anthony Joshua or Oleksandr Usyk is up next.
Joshua and Usyk will have a rematch this year following the former's defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last autumn and Hatton, who is making a comeback of his own this year, says that Fury will only be finished if he fights either of those two. Usyk currently holds the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles after his unanimous win over AJ last September.
After his fight, Fury insisted that he would only participate in exhibitions, with a fight against UFC star Francis Ngannou on the cards. However, Hatton, a close friend of Fury's, claims that there could still be two major fights left in the 33-year-old from Wyhthenshawe.
ALSO READ: Tyson Fury net worth after £22m earnings from Dillian Whyte fight
Hatton told Boxing Social : "I don’t think he'll retire," he added. "I know he wants to fight Usyk, he wants to fight Joshua. I think he'll retire just so Eddie [Hearn] and AJ pull their fingers out.
"He might retire and say, 'well I'm retiring now', if Eddie and AJ think they've lost it they might stand a better chance of getting it on.
"I think Tyson is a fighting man, he just loves to fight doesn't he? I think Tyson will be on his settee in five years' time and think, 'I’ll give it another go'. That’s Tyson isn't it? The reason why we went into this game is to try and become the best.
"Tyson's the best, Usyk is number two and AJ is just behind there, you want to fight the best, Tyson's the best, you don't want to retire without fighting the best, do you? I think they’ll want to get it on."
Fury appeared to play down any prospect of a fight against heavyweight rivals Joshua or Usyk following his win - sticking to his retirement stance - but wife Paris kept the door open for a unification fight when speaking to BT Sport after the contest: “I know in my heart the only reason Tyson would come back is for a unification fight,” Paris told BT Sport. “That would be the only reason because there’s nothing left for him.”.