Tyson Fury has now officially vacated his Ring Magazine heavyweight title, giving the strongest indication yet that his retirement could be genuine.
As it stands, the Gypsy King has yet to vacate his WBC world heavyweight title – and most would still say his retirement isn’t really confirmed until he does.
Fury’s retirement saga has dragged on since the first press conference before his fight with Dillian Whyte earlier this year, when he unexpectedly dropped the bombshell on a group of reporters.
Few people believed him then and many still doubt him today, despite the fact that he has repeated his claim several times since.
Earlier this week, Fury announced he was planning a return to face Derek Chisora in a trilogy fight.
However, negotiations stalled and on Friday – Fury’s 34th birthday – he once again declared he was leaving the sport for good.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman revealed he spoke to Fury on Friday who insisted he was truly retiring, but Sulaiman chose not to elaborate on whether or not the WBC belt was released.
Now, Saturday morning, Ring Magazine has confirmed that Fury has vacated his title.
“The Ring Magazine Championship has always been boxing’s holy grail,” Fury told Ring Magazine.
“They’ve been fantastic with me and I’ve always worn that title with pride.”
It should be noted that the Ring belt is recognized by many as being more of a very prestigious trophy which is added to the best boxing fights, rather than a world title in its own right.
That’s why many will say that while Fury still holds his WBC crown, he’s not truly retired.
His decision to relinquish the Ring title opens up the possibility that Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch against Anthony Joshua next Saturday, live on talkSPORT, will now take place with the belt on the line.
Hypothetically, if Fury came back and faced the winner, it would give him the opportunity to become only the second man after Muhammad Ali to win it three times.
When asked how he wanted to be remembered, Fury replied: “To be honest with you, and I’ve always said this, I don’t really care what people think of me. .
“I don’t care how they remember me. Being called back means you are not active [as a person] over, you’re done, and that’s it.
Usyk vs. Joshua 2 on talkSPORT