Tyson Fury has been told he should vacate his WBC belt if he is actually retired from boxing.
The 'Gypsy King' defended his heavyweight world title against Dillian Whyte in April before announcing his retirement, only to subsequently perform several U-turns. Several fights would be available for Fury if he elects to return including the winner of Anthony Joshua's rematch with Oleksandr Usyk which takes place this weekend.
Fury held talks in the meantime with former rival Derek Chisora over a third meeting years on from their two fights, but a deal never materialised which prompted the champion to once again confirm he was hanging up his gloves. Fury has now vacated his Ring Magazine belt in the aftermath of the news but is yet to vacate his WBC crown with a deadline approaching on August 26.
And Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith believes Fury is trying to stay in the limelight with his retirement claims, but believes he should be given time if he is pondering his future. "It is not the first time he has retired but we will see," Smith told Mirror Fighting . "I think he just wants to stay relevant.
"Ultimately he is just trying to stay relevant. One thing I would say is that he is the WBC champion, if he actually has retired he should have to vacate his belt. I don't think he should be rushing because he has his time that he doesn't have to fight mandatories. But if he is retired the belt is something that the WBC need to look at it.
"But how many times has this bloke retired and come back. He will probably be fighting Thor Bjornsson next week." Fury had a busy week last week having called out Chisora and offered him an alleged £2million to accept a fight in December but an offer failed to materialise.
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He had also planned to fight in an exhibition with Bjornsson and took a flight to Iceland in a bid to force through the talks, but his rival was in Rome and later sent a demand for a contract on social media. Fury has previously suggested he would come out of retirement to face Joshua for free, while also suggesting he could command a fee of up to £500million to make a comeback.
Chisora, who was in talks with Fury over a fight, has hit out at his rival claiming that fans are "sick" of his retirement plans. He told iFL TV : "The guy, he doesn't know what he is. One minute he wants to fight for free, one minute he wants to fight for £5million. You know what?
"I think the British public are tired of his f***ing b***s*** now. If you're going to retire, go ahead and retire and enjoy all the money you made, congratulations and go do what you need to do. Tyson is confused, man."
