Following a second successive defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia with world titles on the line, Tyson Fury was naturally asked about his future in the sport.
Having retired a handful of times already, fans could be forgiven for taking his career announcements with a pinch of salt.
Those announcements came from a position of great power – one of boxing’s top draws and an undefeated heavyweight champion.
Now, a Ukrainian he often belittled as a blown-up middleweight – whom he also chastised Anthony Joshua for losing to twice – has, you guessed it… beaten him twice.
The two-time heavyweight champion stormed out of the ring once his promoter Frank Warren showed him the scorecards for the fight which read 116-112 across the board from the human judges and 118-112 from the first-time ever AI judge.
Backstage, Fury insisted to the following pack of media that he had won that fight by at least three rounds.
Tyson Fury has spoken about his future after losing to Oleksandr Usyk for a second time
Fury put up a brave effort but was outpointed for the second time in seven months
Usyk proved once and for all that he is the better fighter and Fury now needs to decide whether he wants to fight on
Without saying he was cheated in Saudi Arabia, the Brit would heavily imply it.
In the press conference, he was flatly asked what’s next for him after coming up short in undisputed and then unified title fights, signalling the first losses of his entire professional career.
‘You might see me fight again, you might not,’ he cryptically answered.
But most of the boxing world suspects we do indeed see him fight again and finally, against Anthony Joshua.
The domestic dust-up has been mooted for the best part of a decade, ever since Fury first became champion when he dethroned Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.
Just over four months later, Joshua became a champion in his own right by demolishing Charles Martin inside two rounds at the O2 Arena, and the all-British clash looked like the obvious fight to make.
Yet fans have still never seen Fury and Joshua settle their differences inside the ring. That could soon change.
Both men would be entering the bout off the back of defeats after Joshua was dominated by Daniel Dubois in September, but there remains interest in how it would all unfold.
A fight with domestic rival Anthony Joshua could convince Fury to fight on
But Joshua is also coming off a loss after being beaten by Daniel Dubois in September
We could find out in 2025, with Wembley Stadium beckoning for what remains arguably the biggest commercial fight in world boxing.
Alternatively, Fury could finally walk away once and for all. The two-time heavyweight king has climbed to the top of the mountain, beating the likes of Klitschko and Deontay Wilder along the way.
Now, he has a big decision to make over whether to fight on or hang up his gloves for good.
