Eddie Hearn says he has heard “rumblings” that Tyson Fury is considering retirement after receiving the scare of his life from Francis Ngannou. Fury was awarded a split-decision victory over the Cameroonian-French MMA star on Saturday night but many feel Ngannou did enough to get his hand raised.
A fight that was supposed to be a walk in the park for the undefeated professional boxer turned into one of the toughest tests of his career. He was floored in the third and wobbled in the eighth as he went all ten rounds with his novice foe in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fury is now set to face Oleksandr Usyk for all four major sanctioning body belts in his next outing. The fight was originally proposed for December 23 but promoter Frank Warren recently declared that the time frame is now “unrealistic”.
It is understood that the undisputed bout is most likely to happen early next year in either January or February before Riyadh Season ends in March. However, Hearn claims the event may never take place after hearing rumours that Fury is debating whether to hang up his gloves in the immediate aftermath of his embarrassing showing against Ngannou.
“Listen, I wouldn’t be surprised if he retired honestly. I heard Spence Oliver say it, I’ve heard rumblings of it, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Hearn told iFL TV.
Former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe would support Fury’s decision should he make it. “Either he needs to retire or he shouldn’t fight anymore,” Bowe told Fight Hub TV. “He fought a guy with no fights. For a guy to have no experience, Tyson Fury should have got him out of there early.”
“Big Daddy” has also advised Fury to “wiggle” his way out of his long-awaited clash with Usyk. “If I was Tyson I would pull out,” Bowe told Fight Hype.
“I wouldn’t fight. Not this early. I would say my hand is hurt. I would postpone or wiggle my way out until I get into better shape then see him down the line. He’s bewildered and he’s disappointed because of this man who did things to him he never thought could happen. As a champion, his heart is broken. I know how it feels to be knocked down. All these things happen and you go back and think about it and it made me depressed for a month or so.”