Tyson Fury lost twice against Oleksandr Usyk (Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Amir Khan believes ‘s consecutive defeats by Oleksandr Usyk may have dented the mental toughness for which ‘The Gypsy King’ is renowned.
Fury and Usyk clashed in Riyadh last May for the first time. Fury, initially performing well, later succumbed as Usyk rallied robustly in the latter rounds, ultimately clinching a historic triumph via split decision and becoming the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999. A mere seven months on, Fury sought vindication but, despite early domination, was overpowered as Usyk took control once more.
The rematch concluded with ‘The Cat’ inflicting a second career defeat on Fury through a unanimous decision. Last month brought another jolt from Fury as he . In a social media video, he declared: “Hi everybody, I’m going to make this short and sweet. I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast, I’ve loved every single minute of it. I’m going to end with this. Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side. Get up! “.
Amid speculation about Fury’s future in boxing, Khan has shared his thoughts, suggesting the Gypsy King isn’t done yet. , Khan expressed his belief: “Tyson is a warrior, and I believe he is the type of fighter who will come back and will not want to leave the sport not giving the fans the fight that they want with Anthony Joshua. I don’t think he will call it a day. He’s going to be there and come back for that one. If that fight isn’t on the table though I don’t think there’s another fight that will motivate him to come back for.”
He further commented on Fury’s current state, saying, “Tyson is a warrior and is no joke. He’s not one of those fighters who is scared, he has just come off two hard fights with Oleksandr Usyk away from his family and I think that is why he didn’t come back to the Ring Magazine event. He wants to relax and spend some time with his family. Sometimes with all of the media attention and the cameras, you want to be left alone and he’s at a point where he wants to be left alone and then when Tyson does want it and gets that itch, he’ll want to come back and get it.”
Khan has weighed in on the potential blockbuster bout between Joshua and Fury, suggesting that the clash could be spellbinding for boxing aficionados. However, Khan expressed concerns about Fury’s potential mental scars following his bouts with Usyk. “It’ll be a good, close fight. I think it will go the distance, but it will be good to see because both fighters are at a good level,” Khan elaborated. “Anthony Joshua has had some good wins (before Daniel Dubois) and looked really good and revived. Then you look at Tyson Fury. He has to be in that type of position to make it a close fight with Anthony Joshua. If Fury is still at the top and has all of the confidence, then I think Fury wins that fight all day long.
“But with the last two fights, it’s even and is a 50/50 fight now. Mentally, Fury may have been really impacted and that’s normal. I’m not talking bad about him but it’s normal and happened to me. When I had that fight loss against Lamont Peterson, mentally I was done. Even though I knew I was a better fighter than Danny Garcia, he beat me and knocked me out. I was outboxing him and destroying him but it’s life. I feel Fury needs to come back and have one or two fights and then take the AJ fight. But knowing Fury with the b**** he has got, he will want to jump straight into that fight which would be very hard.”