Deontay Wilder believes Tyson Fury is genuine about his retirement claims, cryptically insinuating that he has been forced into it.
The former heavyweight champion shared a heated three-year-long rivalry with the Fury as the pair battled back-and-forth for the WBC title from 2018 to 2021. And despite seemingly patching things up after their trilogy bout, in which he was viciously knocked out, Wilder still isn't fully keen on having a friendship with the man with whom he has shared 30 hard rounds.
And in a recent interview, Wilder intimated that he feels there will be many changes abound in the heavyweight division due to Fury having his hand forced into retirement. The Brit is just 34-years-old, but having won every belt in the division and never lost, he has indicated that now is the time for him to quit the sport and focus on his family with wife Paris and their six children.
Many experts, fans and even close friends of Fury's believe that he is not serious about his claim to be hanging up the gloves, and just last week he announced he was coming back to face Derek Chisora in another trilogy. But Wilder is one of the few voices with a keen knowledge of Fury and his situation who is confident that he will retire.
"I think he [Fury] is going to have to retire," Wilder told FightHype when asked if he felt the Brit was serious with his latest announcement. "He's going to have to, he's got a lot of stuff going on, I'm not even going to get into it but it's looking like he's going to have to. Once that happens then anything is up for grabs. I can't give too much information out, I don't really want to discuss it but it's going to be a lot of changes in the division. There are a lot of opportunities and different things lined up so stay tuned."
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Wilder is currently focused on a ring return of his own against the giant Finnish fighter Robert Helenius. The Finn is similar to Fury in his huge frame, but will be easier to hit and a solid indicator for Wilder of where he stands in the heavyweight division after his back-to-back losses to the Brit.
Meanwhile, Fury appears to be enjoying life after boxing, staying around the sport as a member of Joseph Parker's camp for his meeting with Joe Joyce on September 24. He confirmed last week after talks fell apart with Chisora for a third bout when his former pal turned down a £2million offer that after turning 34 he planned to stay retired from the sport.
There are still massive fights out there for Fury, including an undisputed bout with the winner of Oleksandr Usyk's unified heavyweight title defence against Anthony Joshua tomorrow night. A decision will soon be made on Fury's WBC belt, but should he hold onto it and return to the ring, a bout with Usyk, or in particular fellow Brit and long-time rival Joshua, would be massive.
