Will A Loss To Usyk Spell The End Of Tyson Fury?

Many fans believe that former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will retire if he loses his fight against unification champion Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Joshua’s Payday Temptation

The temptation will obviously be there for Fury, 36, to push on after his second loss to Usyk in order to get that big payday against Anthony Joshua next year. You cannot remove i the aspect of greed and Fury because an additional $100 million+ could help pad his retirement nest egg.

Honorable Turki Alalshikh has told the media that Fury and Joshua can still fight, even if they lose in their semi-finals. Fury may not want to take him up on his offer because of his pride.

Fury’s potential purse against Joshua would be huge, and it would tempt him to take the fight, even if he is coming off a humiliating loss to Usyk in December.

Getting dusted by Usyk on December 21 will be a bitter pill for Fury because it was only four months that he was considered the best heavyweight in the world. That label was obviously as we saw in Fury’s poor performance against Usyk, looking as bad as he did in his other fights and was saved by the referee on the job in the same way.

A Knockout Loss Could Be The Last Straw

Fury’s KO loss to the undefeated Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) could be the last for the ‘Gypsy King,’ who was proudly spared a stoppage by the referee in his first fight against Oleksandr on May 18. Most people believe Fury would have been knocked out in the ninth round.

In the rematch, there is little chance that the referee will intervene to give Fury the stand 8, which was obtained when he was injured and smashed into pieces on the ropes. The referee will not want to put himself in a position to be seen rescuing Fury in another cut, putting him on the ground and facing the brute.

Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) is already quite rich, with an estimated net worth of $140 million, which could top out at over $200 million. He doesn’t need the extra money he’s going to get from fighting Joshua. So perhaps Fury will choose the retirement route if he is badly beaten and knocked out by Usyk.