Tyson Fury vowed to retire immediately after securing a knockout win to defeat Dillian Whyte and retain his WBC title - but the Gypsy King’s promoter Bob Arum has refused to throw in the towel on the boxer’s iconic career just yet.
Fury dominated the scrappy bout and then struck a powerful right uppercut to secure the sixth-round stoppage in front of a sold-out Wembley Stadium. Whyte attempted to continue after getting to his feet, but the referee intervened after the 34-year-old failed to maintain his balance.
And when asked if Fury had fought his last bout, Arum told USA Today Sports : "No, he definitely won’t retire. Of course not. Are you crazy? We’ll have plenty of time to talk everything out."
Fury, who retained both his WBC title and his Ring Magazine belt, is still unbeaten in 33 contests while Whyte ultimately came up short in his first title bout. After the fight, Fury suggested he was walking away from the sport for good.
"This might be the final curtain for the Gypsy King," the 33-year-old said. "I've spent a lot of time on the road. I've been away for a long time. I fulfilled everything I've ever wanted to fulfil.
"I will retire as only the second heavyweight in history, after Rocky Marciano, to retire undefeated. I was unbeatable at this game."
Fury’s potential retirement would be a bitter blow for boxing fans, while the man himself would be walking away from a lucrative and legacy-defining contest against the winner of Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua ahead of their rematch. Usyk outclassed the Brit to claim his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles back in September.
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Fans hope that Fury will face the winner of the rematch reportedly set to be staged in Saudi Arabia this summer in a bout to crown the first undisputed world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis. If Fury was to win such a fight, he would surely go down as Britain’s finest ever heavyweight - but he has so far suggested he is done with boxing.
"I promised my wife that would be it after the [Deontay] Wilder fight," Fury added. "But I got offered a fight at Wembley and I owed it to the fans. What a way to go out."
Across his professional boxing career, Fury has compiled a record of 32 wins and one draw - the controversial draw against Deontay Wilder in their first bout - while he is yet to lose since turning professional in 2008. Thanks to sensational wins like his pair of victories over Wilder and his one-punch knockout of Whyte, the Gypsy King is considered by many to be the best fighter in the heavyweight division.
Whyte believes he should have been allowed ‘extra time to recover’ after claiming he was ‘pushed’ by Fury immediately after the champion landed his uppercut. The Brixton Body Snatcher was clearly affected by the punch in the sixth round, but believes the referee should have penalised Fury for shoving him before his head heavily hit the canvas.
Whyte, who suffered the first cut in 31 professional bouts when a gash was opened up above his right eye on Saturday, was speaking to Sky Sports at the Fairmont Hotel in Windsor Park when he said: "I was buzzed but obviously I was trying to regather my senses and he proper pushed me and I fell over and hit my head on the canvas which is illegal. This isn't wrestling, this is boxing, but as usual, they let Fury do what he wants and get away with it.
"I should have been allowed extra time to recover and then carried on fighting." He added: "I should have had time to recover, time to go back to my corner, but Tyson Fury gets away with a lot of things. He said he would retire. I hope he doesn't retire, because I want another go."
