Tyson Fury wants Deontay Wilder to hang up his gloves. The heavyweight champion shared his thoughts on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, urging his former rival to step away from boxing at 39 years old.
Fury knows a thing or two about retirement. He left the sport after beating long-reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko, battling personal demons including drugs, alcohol, and mental health issues. He made a comeback in 2018 and faced Wilder three times in epic battles.
On the podcast, Fury expressed concern for Wilder's well-being:
"Being truthful, I'd like to see poor old Deontay retire from boxing. When I beat Wilder he was 44-0 with 43 knockouts, and he knocked out the guy who went the distance with him in a rematch. That means he knocked out every single person he ever faced."
Fury believes their trilogy took a heavy toll on both fighters. The series saw ten knockdowns in total, with Fury winning two fights and drawing one. He continued:
"Obviously he lost the three fights to me. We took a lot of years off of each other's lives. That war that ended in the eleventh round by knockout, that takes a lot out your tank and you don't recover from fights like that. Between me and Wilder in our trilogy there were ten knockdowns. It takes a lot out of a fighter."
Since their last fight, Wilder has struggled to regain his form. He knocked out Robert Helenius in one round after a year out but then lost to Joseph Parker and got knocked out by Zhilei Zhang in five rounds.
Fury sees these performances as evidence of Wilder's decline:
"Even when he's come back and had a couple of fights since against Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang, he's only a shadow of his former glory. The only thing left of Deontay is his name. And that's it. So I'd like to see him retire for sure before he does damage to himself."
Despite Fury's concerns, Wilder's trainer Malik Scott has confirmed the former champion plans to fight on. No return date has been set.
Meanwhile, Fury is preparing for his own challenge. He'll face Oleksandr Usyk on December 21 in a rematch after losing to the Ukrainian in May. The fight gives Fury a chance to win three of the four major heavyweight belts.
