Early career Fury made his professional debut at the age of 20 on 6 December 2008 in Nottingham, on the undercard of
Carl Froch vs. Jean Pascal against Hungarian fighter Bela Gyongyosi (3–9–2), who Fury defeated via TKO in the first round with a combination to head and body. He then had six more fights in the space of seven months, defeating
Marcel Zeller (21–3), Daniil Peretyatko (15–20),
Lee Swaby (23–22–2), Matthew Ellis (20–6–1),
Scott Belshaw (10–1) and Aleksandrs Selezens (3–6) all via knockout within 4 rounds. On 11 September 2009, Fury fought
John McDermott (25–5, 16 KOs) for the English heavyweight title, and won via a
points decision. Fury came in as a 1–6 favourite but produced a poor display, and the 98–92 decision by the referee Terry O'Connor was criticised as a "travesty". The decision led the British Boxing Board of Control to mandate three judges for all English titles, and the board ordered a rematch. Fury scored two more victories against Tomas Mrazek (4–22–5) and Hans-Joerg Blasko (9–3) before facing McDermott in a rematch on 25 June 2010. Fury settled the controversy of the first fight, as he knocked down McDermott three times, first in the 8th round then twice in the 9th round to win by TKO. Fury won the English heavyweight title for a second time in the process.
British and Commonwealth champion Fury vs. Chisora On 23 July 2011, Fury faced undefeated heavyweight
Derek Chisora for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles at Wembley Arena in London. Although Chisora was aged 27 and Fury 22 years old, both men went into the fight with a record of 14–0. Despite Fury's superior size and reach, Chisora was the favourite. After 12 hard-fought rounds Fury won via unanimous decision 117–112, 117–112, and 118–111, with the fight shown live on free-to-air
Channel 5. Promoter Mick Hennessy said the fight peaked at around 3 million viewers.
Miscellaneous fights On 17 September 2011, Fury fought 32-year-old fringe contender Nicolai Firtha (20–8–1, 8 KOs) in a non-title bout at the
King's Hall, Belfast. Firtha took the fight on two weeks' notice. The opening two rounds were dominated by Fury. In round 3, Firtha landed a big punch which looked to trouble Fury. Fury regained control of the fight by the next round and forced the referee to stop the fight at 2 minutes, 19 seconds on round 5. Fury admitted he got caught flush, "He caught me with a good punch and I had to come back from it." The fight averaged 1.03 million viewers on Channel 5. Fury returned to the ring on 12 November at the
Event City in
Trafford Park, Manchester to defend his Commonwealth heavyweight title against undefeated Canadian heavyweight champion
Neven Pajkic (16–0, 5 KOs). Fury had an early scare after being knocked down in round 2 following a big right hand. Although Pajkic hobbled Fury again at the outset of round 3, Fury came back to knock down Pajkic twice during that round. The referee stopped the fight after the last knockdown, causing Pajkic to protest, who declared himself ready to fight on. Many at ringside thought the stoppage premature. The fight averaged 1.72 million viewers on Channel 5. On 14 April 2012, Fury travelled to Belfast to fight at the Odyssey Arena for the vacant Irish heavyweight title. His opponent was veteran
Martin Rogan (14–2, 7 KOs). Rogan had not fought in 18 months and had not beaten an opponent with a winning record since 2009. At , Fury was fighting at the lightest weight of his professional career to date. Fury put Rogan on the canvas with a left hook in the third round. Rogan went down again in round 5 from a body shot. Rogan made it to his feet, but the bout was stopped at the request of his corner. The fight averaged 1.33 million viewers on Channel 5. The fight averaged 1.05 million viewers on Channel 5. Fury won via unanimous decision over Johnson. After 12 rounds, the judges scored it 119–110, 119–108, and 119–108 in favour of Fury. Many media outlets including the BBC and ESPN dubbed the fight as a poor showing. Fury claimed he would score a good win, just as rival
David Price did when he stopped
Matt Skelton a night earlier, but instead eased to a decision victory. Fury, with the win, was in line to challenge for the WBC title, held at the time by
Vitali Klitschko. The fight averaged 1.37 million viewers on Channel 5. At the weigh in, Cunningham was lighter, at to Fury's . Fury fought wildly in the first two rounds of the bout, and was floored heavily by Cunningham in the 2nd round. Cunningham continued to land heavy punches on Fury for the next few rounds, until being worn down by Fury's size advantage and power punches. By round seven, Fury had fully rebounded and handed Cunningham the first knockout defeat of his career with a cuffing right hand against the rope. Earlier, in round five, Fury was docked a point following a headbutt. At the time of the stoppage, Fury was behind on two judges' scorecards 57–55, while the other judge had it 56–56 (even). A week after the fight, Cunningham spoke to ATG Radio, claiming that Fury used an illegal manoeuvre to knock him out, "He held me with his forearm. He pushed me in the corner twice – which is illegal – and then he pushed me with his forearm, cocked my head to the left and threw a right hook." The fight card aired on NBC in the late afternoon and averaged 1.2 million viewers, peaking at 1.7 million. In the UK, the fight aired on Channel 5 and averaged 1.54 million viewers. Fury was due to fight
David Haye (26–2, 24 KOs) on 28 September 2013, in a fight which would have seen Fury fight on a pay-per-view platform for the first time. However, Haye pulled out of the fight on 21 September, after sustaining a cut, which required six stitches, above the eye during training. The fight was originally postponed to 8 February 2014. Haye pulled out of the fight a second time on 17 November, stating that he had a career-threatening shoulder injury which required surgery, and hinted at his retirement. Fury believed that Haye was making excuses because he did not want the fight, saying "I'm absolutely furious but in all honesty this is exactly what I expected. Everyone knows I was very suspicious when he pulled out the first time and this confirms to me that he's always been afraid of me and never wanted this fight." Aside from training camp expenses, Haye also cost Fury his positions in the world rankings including an IBF final eliminator bout which would have made him mandatory for a shot at the world title. Fury announced his retirement on 20 November 2013, stating on social media "I have officially retired from boxing. There's
[sic] too many bent people in the sport. They will have to ffuck someone else. Goodbye boxing." He confirmed his decision the next day, stating "Just to confirm I'm not in a bad mood or anything. I've retired 1000000% no matter what ill never fight again!".
Fury vs. Abell On 24 January 2014, it was announced that Fury would fight at the Copper Box Arena against Argentine veteran
Gonzalo Omar Basile (61–8, 27 KOs) on 15 February. On 5 February, Basile pulled out of the fight due to a lung infection. He was replaced by American journeyman
Joey Abell (29–7, 28 KOs). Fury won the fight via 4th-round TKO, which set up a rematch with Chisora in the summer. Ring rust showed in the opening two rounds with Abell connecting with left hands, which had Fury against the ropes. But Fury managed to compose himself and get behind the jab. In the third round, Fury floored Abell with a right hand. Abell beat the count but was floored again, this time being saved by the bell. Two more knockdowns followed in round 4 ending the fight. After the fight, Fury took to the microphone, "Tyson too fast Fury, that's the name, fighting's the game and these are bums compared to me. I want
Wladimir Klitschko, he's avoiding me, let's get it on Wlad."
European champion Fury vs. Chisora II Fury was due to fight rival and heavyweight contender
Derek Chisora for the second time on 26 July 2014, for the European and once again the British heavyweight title. On 21 July, Chisora was forced to pull out after sustaining a fractured hand in training. Russian
Alexander Ustinov was lined up as Chisora's replacement in the bout scheduled to take place at the
Manchester Arena, Fury pulled out of the fight after his uncle and former trainer Hughie Fury was taken seriously ill. However, Fury and Chisora rescheduled the rematch for 29 November 2014 at
ExCeL London. The bout was also a WBO title eliminator and shown live on
BoxNation. Fury was victorious again after dominating the fight up until Chisora's corner pulled him out at the end of the 10th round. Fury also used a southpaw stance for the majority of the fight, despite the traditional right-handed orthodox stance being his preference. Fury used his jab to trouble Chisora and stayed on the outside with his longer reach to dominate the fight. Chisora failed to land any telling punches, and due to Fury's awkward fighting style, ended up hitting him below the belt. Chisora was warned by referee Marcus McDonnell in the first round. After the fight, Fury said, "Wladimir Klitschko, I'm coming for you, baby. I'm coming. No retreat, no surrender." Promoter Mick Hennessy said Fury would likely fight once more before challenging for the world title.
Fury vs. Hammer On 26 December 2014,
Sky Sports News announced that Fury would fight once more before challenging Klitschko for his world titles. His opponent was
Christian Hammer (17–3, 10 KOs) and the fight took place on 28 February 2015 at the
O2 Arena in London. Fury said he went for an opponent that would give him a challenge rather than an "easier" opponent, before challenging Klitschko. Fury went on to win the fight when it came to a halt in the 8th round via
corner stoppage. Fury dominated the fight from the opening bell and dropped Hammer in round 5 with a short right hook. After the fight, Fury called out Wladimir Klitschko again, stating he was ready for his world title shot.
Unified heavyweight world champion Fury vs. Klitschko In July 2015, it was confirmed that Fury would fight
Wladimir Klitschko in a world heavyweight title showdown, for the
WBA (Super),
IBF,
WBO,
IBO, and
The Ring heavyweight titles. Initially scheduled for 24 October 2015, the fight was postponed to 28 November 2015 after Klitschko sustained a calf injury. For this match, Fury trained with the highest ranked heavyweight kickboxers in
GLORY,
Rico Verhoeven and
Benjamin Adegbuyi. The fight took place at
Esprit Arena in
Düsseldorf, Germany. On fight night, there was controversy with the gloves, then a complaint about the ring canvas. Klitschko reportedly had his hands wrapped without the presence of a Fury representative, so had to do them again. Fury won after 12 rounds by a unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 115–112, 115–112, and 116–111. Klitschko and Fury showed little offence during the 12 rounds, but Fury was more active and did enough each round to take the decision. Klitschko landed 52 of 231 punches thrown (23%) and Fury landed 86 of 371 thrown (23%). In the post-fight interview, an emotional Fury said, "This is a dream come true. We worked so hard for this. I've done it. It's hard to come to foreign countries and get decisions. It just means so much to me to come here and get the decision." He then took the microphone and thanked Klitschko, "I'd like to say to Wladimir, you're a great champion. And thanks very much for having me. It was all fun and games during the buildup." Klitschko failed to throw his well-known right hand, mostly due to Fury's constant movement and mocking. He said, "Tyson was the faster and better man tonight. I felt quite comfortable in the first six rounds, but I was astonished that Tyson was so fast in the second half as well. I couldn't throw my right hand because the advantage was the longer distance he had." Klitschko had a rematch clause in place. On 8 December 2015, the IBF stripped Fury of its title, as the contract for the fight against Klitschko included a rematch clause, precluding Fury from facing the IBF's mandatory challenger
Vyacheslav Glazkov. Fury had held the IBF belt for only 10 days.
Relinquishing world titles Following months of negotiation, the rematch with Klitschko was announced on 8 April 2016, this time with the fight scheduled to take place in Fury's hometown of
Manchester at the
Manchester Arena on 9 July 2016. Despite agreeing terms for the rematch, Fury said he had "no motivation" and had gained an extreme amount of weight after the first fight, as he weighed over 24
stone (330 lb or 150 kg) by April 2016. On 24 June 2016, it was announced that this fight would be postponed to a later date due to Fury sustaining a sprained ankle in training. On the same day, Fury and his cousin,
Hughie Fury, were charged by
UK Anti-Doping "with presence of a prohibited substance", namely
nandrolone, from a sample taken 16 months previously in February 2015. Tyson and Hughie said that they "strenuously deny" the charge. On 23 September, Fury again postponed the fight after being declared "medically unfit". ESPN reported that Fury had failed a drug test for
cocaine a day before the second postponement. Fury cited problems with
depression after the positive test for cocaine. Fury's mental health deteriorated after winning the world titles. On 3 October 2016, Fury announced his retirement from boxing for the second time, although he walked this back a few hours later. On 12 October 2016, pending investigation on an anti-doping case about his cocaine use, nandrolone findings, and being deemed medically unfit to fight, Fury decided to vacate the
WBA (Unified), WBO, IBO heavyweight titles. He said "I won the titles in the ring and I believe that they should be lost in the ring, but I'm unable to defend at this time and I have taken the hard and emotional decision to now officially vacate my treasured world titles and wish the next in-line contenders all the very best as I now enter another big challenge in my life which I know, like against Klitschko, I will conquer." Fury's promoter Mick Hennessy added: "Tyson will still be the lineal world heavyweight champion in everyone's eyes. He beat the most dominant champion in the modern era of boxing on an amazing night in Germany to earn that accolade and that will never change. Whilst it's heartbreaking to see Tyson vacate the world titles that he worked so long and hard for all his life, what's paramount now is that he receives the medical treatment along with the love of his family and friends and the support of the boxing world to make a full recovery." On 1 February 2018, Fury was stripped of his last remaining title,
The Ring magazine's heavyweight championship.
Issues with UKAD and BBBofC In December 2016, Fury's uncle Peter announced that Fury would be returning around spring in 2017 and would aim for a fight against WBC champion
Deontay Wilder. On 23 December, Fury tweeted that he was back in training ahead of a ring return around April or May 2017. His tweet read, "I've had a nightmare 2016, done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of, but my promise to you is I'll return in 2017." On 6 March 2017, Fury tweeted that his return fight would take place on 13 May 2017 and he was speaking to promoter
Frank Warren about possible opponents. Warren had become Fury's promoter after Fury dropped his long-time promoter Mick Hennessy. The date set for the return would mean Fury would be fighting on the undercard of
Josh Warrington defending his WBC International featherweight title against
Kiko Martinez at the
First Direct Arena in Leeds. Shortly after Fury announced a comeback date, the
British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) publicly announced that Fury was still suspended and would not be fighting in May. This was confirmed by their general secretary Robert Smith. He also mentioned that there had been no contact from Fury or his representatives since the ban started in October 2016. Warren told
Reuters on 7 March, "I want to see him back in the ring as soon as possible but before that happens he's got a couple of issues to sort out." Warren said that along with the dispute with the BBBofC there would need to be a court hearing with
UK Anti-Doping (UKAD). Robert Smith, general secretary of the BBBofC, said in May 2017 that Fury's case was "complex" and it had been adjourned. In August 2017, Fury announced his retirement from boxing for the third time. but denied claims that they were prolonging the hearing. Instead they said they were trying to resolve the matter as soon as possible. On 8 November 2017,
BBC Sport reported that a National Anti-Doping Panel hearing was due to take place in December. Due to the legal battle between Fury and UKAD, it was believed that UKAD could potentially become
insolvent or would need a government bail out. UKAD reportedly have an annual budget of £8 million, and the fact that Fury had not fought for two years would have caused potential loss of earnings, possibly over £10 million. UKAD asked the government if they could underwrite the case. On 23 November, according to Robert Smith of the BBBofC, a hearing was set for a date in December 2017. On 25 November 2017, Fury announced his comeback after signing with managerial group
MTK Global. A hearing start date of 11 December was set, with a potential outcome being Fury facing a four-year ban. Fury did not attend the hearing and had reporters waiting outside the location for six hours before leaving. Mick Hennessy later stated that Fury was not required at the hearing. On 7 February 2018, UKAD revealed they spent £585,659 on the Fury case. £576,587 was paid to London law firm
Bird & Bird, barrister fees came to £1,130 and around £8,000 was paid for laboratory work. UKAD believed they could regain £250,000 through legal insurance. On 12 December, UKAD announced they had agreed with the Furys and the BBBoC to resolve the charges. "Taking into account the delays in results management that meant charges were not brought in respect of the nandrolone findings until June 2016, and the provisional suspensions that Tyson and Hughie Fury have already effectively served, the two year period of ineligibility is backdated to 13 December 2015, and therefore expires at midnight on 12 December 2017." Tyson's February 2015 win over Christian Hammer was disqualified but his Klitschko triumph was not. Tyson blamed the elevated nandrolone levels on eating uncastrated
wild boar and declared his and Hughie's innocence, "Hughie and I have maintained our innocence from day one and we're now happy that it has finally been settled with UKAD and that we can move forward knowing that we'll not be labelled drug cheats." The BBBofC said they would consider the renewal of Fury's boxing licence in January 2018.
Return to the ring On 10 January 2018, Fury announced he would be re-applying for his boxing licence through the BBBofC. An interview took place between Fury and BBBofC on 19 January, where the latter agreed to re-instate Fury as long as he sent them up-to-date medical records after visiting a psychologist. Fury said a motivation on his return was
Deontay Wilder. "He said I couldn't do it, he said definitely not Tyson Fury. He's done." At a press conference in London on 12 April 2018, Fury announced he had signed a multi-fight deal with Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions. He stated that he intended to fight at least three times before 2019, starting on 9 June at the Manchester Arena. After weeks of speculation, it was confirmed the fight would be shown exclusively on BT Sport.
Fury vs. Seferi On 20 May 39-year-old Albanian
Sefer Seferi (23–1, 21 KOs) was announced as Fury's opponent in a 10-round bout. Seferi was a career cruiserweight, having fought once at heavyweight, when he lost to
Manuel Charr in 2016. Fury weighed at the weigh-in, heavier than Seferi. Fury had lost for the fight, having experienced extreme weight gain due to his mental health problems. Fury won the fight after Seferi quit on his stool after round 4. The opening couple of rounds had little to no action as Fury was showboating, which referee Phil Edwards warned him for in round 2. A brawl also broke out in the crowd during the fight, but order was restored before the fight came to an end. Fury began to unload heavy shots in round 4 and it appeared many of the shots landed and hurt Seferi, hence he retired on his stool. After the fight, Warren confirmed Fury would next return on the
Carl Frampton undercard on 18 August at
Windsor Park in
Belfast. It was revealed the fight, which aired exclusively on
BT Sport 1, peaked at 814,000 live viewers.
Fury vs. Pianeta On 12 July 2018, it was announced that Fury would fight former two-time world title challenger
Francesco Pianeta (35–4–1, 21 KOs) on 18 August. Fury weighed in at , lighter than he weighed against Seferi. Pianeta came in at . On 30 July, it was reported that there was ongoing negotiations for a fight to take place in either November or December 2018 between Fury and Wilder (40–0, 39 KOs). On 31 July, Fury stated the fight against Wilder was 99% a done deal, with only a location and date to be confirmed. Fury also had to come through in his bout against Pianeta. Wilder was scheduled to be in Belfast to further promote the fight. Fury went the full 10 rounds, defeating Pianeta via a points decision. Referee Steve Gray scored the fight 100–90 in favour of Fury. Fury later stated he had no intention of trying to end the fight early. He said, "I think it was a calculated boxing performance. I got 10 rounds with a very tough man under my belt. I was working on my jab, slipping his punches. I thought that was a step up with the opponent and display. I needed the rounds, and I had plenty left in the tank." According to CompuBox, Fury landed 107 of 620 punches thrown (17%). This included 100 power punches landed of 226 thrown (44%). Pianeta landed only 37 of his 228 punches thrown (16%). During the post-fight interviews, promoter Warren confirmed the Fury vs. Wilder fight was on. The fight would take place in either Las Vegas or New York in November 2018. The fight would be aired on PPV in the United States on
Showtime and in the UK on
BT Sports Box Office. Talking about how the fight came together, Fury said, "We have two men who will fight anyone. This man has been trying to make a fight with another chump. They called, I answered. I said: 'Send me the contract.' They sent it. I said 'yes'." Warren later told BBC Radio 5 live, "[It's a] 50–50 [purse split], quick and smooth negotiations. He was the world heavyweight champion. He's undefeated. [Wilder and his team] understand that. All of the terms are agreed." By the end of August, contracts for the fight to take place had been signed.
WBC heavyweight title challenge Fury vs. Wilder On 22 September, both Fury and Wilder confirmed they had signed the contract and the fight would take place on 1 December 2018. According to the
California State Athletic Commission, Wilder would earn a guaranteed base purse of $4 million and Fury would take home a guaranteed purse of $3 million. Despite Frank Warren's original claim that the revenue would be split 50–50, it was revealed that Wilder could make $14 million (£11 million) and Fury would earn around $10.25 million (£8 million). Both boxers would see this increase to their base purses after receiving their percentages from pay-per-view revenue. The weigh-in took place on 30 November, outside the
Los Angeles Convention Center. Fury stepped on the scale first and weighed in at . This was only lighter than his weigh-in against Francisco Pianeta in August 2018, but he looked leaner. Wilder was next to step on and came in at , his lowest since his debut in 2008 when he weighed . For his last bout, Wilder weighed , however, it was cited that Wilder became ill during his training camp. In front of a crowd of 17,698 at the Staples Center, Wilder and Fury fought a 12-round split decision draw, meaning Wilder retained his WBC title. Mexican judge Alejandro Rochin scored the fight 115–111 for Wilder, Canadian judge Robert Tapper had it 114–112 for Fury and English judge Phil Edwards scored it a 113–113 draw. The crowd booed at the decision with many believing Fury did enough to dethrone Wilder. Fury, using his unorthodox stance, spent much of the fight using upper and lower-body movement to avoid Wilder big shots and stay out of range. There was not much action in round 1 as both boxers used the round to feel each other out. Wilder tried to trap Fury into the corner, but Fury made Wilder miss most of his big swings. In round 4, Wilder bloodied Fury's nose with his stiff jabs, but was unable to follow up on the attacks. In round 6, Fury switched to southpaw stance and had success backing Wilder against the ropes and at the same time stayed cautious of Wilder's power. In round 7, after trading jabs, which saw Fury come out on top, Fury landed a counter right hand, then quickly tied Wilder up before he could throw anything back. Round 8 saw back and forth action with both trying to land. Wilder threw a lot of power shots which Fury mostly evaded. In round 9, Wilder finally dropped Fury with a short left hook followed by an overhand right. Fury beat referee Jack Reiss' count and survived the round. Having expended a lot of energy trying to finish Fury in round 9, Wilder looked fatigued in round 10. This came to as an advantage for Fury as he landed two right hands. Fury also took advantage in round 11, landing enough shots and avoided anything Wilder could throw. In round 12, Wilder landed a right-left combination which put Fury down hard on his back. The crowd, commentary team and Wilder believed the fight was over. Reiss looked at Fury on the canvas and began giving him a count. To everyone's surprise, Fury beat the count. Reiss made Fury walk towards him and called for the action to continue. Wilder, fatigued again, was unable to land another power shot and Fury landed some right hands to finish the round and the fight on his feet. Both boxers embraced in a hug after the final bell sounded. According to
CompuBox statistics, Wilder landed 71 punches of 430 thrown (17%), and Fury landed 84 of his 327 thrown (26%). Wilder was much less accurate in this fight than he usually had been in previous fights. Fury out-landed Wilder in 9 out of the 12 rounds. Both Wilder and Fury only landed double digits in 4 separate rounds. After the fight, both men gave in-ring interviews. Wilder stated, "I think with the two knockdowns, I definitely won the fight. We poured our hearts out tonight. We're both warriors. I rushed my punches. I didn't sit still. I was too hesitant. I started overthrowing the right hand, and I just couldn't adjust. I was rushing my punches. That's something I usually don't do." Fury said, "We're on away soil. I got knocked down twice, but I still believe I won that fight. I'm being a total professional here. God bless America. The 'Gypsy King' has returned. That man is a fearsome puncher, and I was able to avoid that. The world knows I won the fight. I hope I did you all proud after nearly three years out of the ring. I showed good heart to get up. I came here tonight, and I fought my heart out." Wilder and Fury both claimed to be the best heavyweights in the world and both called out unified world champion
Anthony Joshua. Fury shouted, "Chicken! Chicken! Joshua, where are you?" Wilder then agreed to state the two best heavyweights got into the ring and fought. The event was both a critical and a commercial success. The fight sold approximately 325,000
pay-per-view buys on Showtime in the United States, grossing around $24 million, making it the most lucrative heavyweight fight in the country since
2003. Showtime's delayed broadcast a week later drew an average 488,000 viewers and peaked at 590,000 viewers.
Establishing himself in Las Vegas Fury vs. Schwarz After the fight with Wilder, Fury secured a five-fight contract with
ESPN and
Top Rank worth £80 million ($100 million). He made his return to the ring at the
MGM Grand Garden Arena in
Las Vegas against the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight champion
Tom Schwarz (24–0, 16 KOs) on 15 June 2019. This was Fury's first fight in Las Vegas. Schwarz was ranked No. 2 by the WBO and #9 by the IBF at the time. Fury weighed , compared to Schwarz's . Fury was in complete control of the fight, peppering the undefeated Schwarz in round one before finishing him in the second round by TKO, to take Schwarz's WBO Inter-Continental title. During the fight, Fury
purposely backed up against the ropes and let Schwarz unload, using head movement to evade the strikes and generating applause from the 9,000 people in attendance. Wallin was ranked No. 4 by the WBA and #12 by the IBF at heavyweight. Fury scaled at , his lightest since facing Klitschko in 2015, when he weighed . The Swedish southpaw Wallin came in at exactly . Fury won by unanimous decision 116–112, 117–111, and 118–110. Fury suffered a serious cut above his right eye in the third round from a short left hook, as well as a cut over his right eyelid from an accidental clash of heads in the fifth which affected his vision for the rest of the fight and prompted a ringside doctor to be consulted in the sixth. After an examination, Fury said he was able to continue and the doctor agreed. In the second half of the fight, Fury repeatedly hit Wallin with solid shots. Wallin came back in the twelfth with his best punch of the fight, a clean left hand which momentarily troubled Fury. After tying Wallin up in a clinch, Fury saw out the round, receiving the decision victory and the WBC Mayan belt, a commemorative title awarded to the winner of a high-profile fight held during
Mexican national holidays. According to CompuBox, Fury landed 179 of 651 total punches (27%) while Wallin connected with 127 of 334 total punches (38%). Of these total punches, Fury landed 127 power punches to Wallin's 84. In his in-ring interview, Fury praised the performance of Wallin, who was a more than 10–1 underdog, and expressed condolences as Wallin's father had recently died. Fury then called out Wilder for a rematch in February 2020.
WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion Fury vs. Wilder II On 27 November 2019, ESPN announced that Fury would face
Deontay Wilder on 22 February 2020, in a rematch of
their bout in 2018, which resulted in a controversial draw. In the build-up to the rematch, Fury split with trainer Ben Davison, who had coached Fury since late 2017 and helped him lose the large amount of weight he had gained during his hiatus and restore him to fighting condition. Davison was nominated for 2018 Trainer of the Year due to his role in Fury's successful return to the ring. The split was described as amicable and Davison wished Fury good luck in the rematch against Wilder. Fury then announced he had partnered with
SugarHill Steward, nephew of Hall-of-Fame trainer
Emanuel Steward, and that he would return to
Kronk Gym, where he briefly trained in 2010. The rematch was officially announced on 27 December 2019, and the venue was set as the
MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight contract included a clause in which the loser can invoke a trilogy fight if he chooses. Fury weighed in at , the third heaviest weight of his professional career and heavier than his weight for the first Wilder bout. He stated in the lead-up to the fight that he wanted extra size and power to look for a knockout. Wilder weighed in at , the heaviest of his career. Fury started the fight by taking the centre of the ring and establishing his jab. He looked for some big shots, while evading Wilder's swings. In the third round, Fury floored Wilder with a strong right hand to the temple. Wilder beat the count and survived the round but was visibly disoriented, as blood began to stream from his left ear. Wilder fell to the canvas twice more, but they were ruled as slips by the referee
Kenny Bayless, before Fury knocked Wilder down again in the fifth round with a quick combination punctuated by a left hook to the body. Wilder made it to his feet again, but was unable to muster much in the way of a counterattack and he was now bleeding from the mouth as well as the ear. The fight was stopped midway through the seventh round after a flurry of hard-hitting shots from Fury caused Wilder's corner to throw in the towel to save him from further punishment. At the time of stoppage, Fury was ahead on all three judges' scorecards 59–52, 58–53, and 59–52, with the irregular scores due to Bayless deducting a point from Fury in the fifth for holding. According to CompuBox, Fury landed 82 of his 267 total punches (31%), including 58 out of 160 power punches (36%). Wilder landed 34 of his 141 total punches (24%), including 18 out of 55 power punches (33%). Fury received widespread praise for his performance, with many believing that it established one of the best boxing comeback stories ever seen, and some stating that the victory placed him as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers in history. It made him the first man to defeat two champions who had 10 or more defences of their world championship (Klitschko with 18 defences, and Wilder with 10 defences). Fury also became the third heavyweight, after
Muhammad Ali and
Floyd Patterson, to hold
The Ring magazine title twice, and the first heavyweight in history to have held the WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and
The Ring magazine titles. With a gate of $16,916,440, the fight broke the gate record for a heavyweight bout in Nevada set by
Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II in November 1999.
Fury vs. Wilder III Deontay Wilder activated the clause for a second rematch fight with Tyson Fury after his loss to Fury in the first rematch. The trilogy fight was tentatively scheduled for July 2020, but this was later postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. On 11 June 2020,
Anthony Joshua's promoter
Eddie Hearn announced that Fury and Joshua had agreed a two-fight deal, provided that Fury defeated Wilder and Joshua defeated his
mandatory challenger,
Kubrat Pulev. Fury's promoter
Bob Arum said in August 2020, "the WBC approved the trilogy contract and that provides for postponements. And certainly, if you can't do it with spectators, a reasonable postponement would be okay. It's a different kind of fight." On 12 October 2020, Fury announced that he was foregoing a trilogy fight with Wilder after organizers failed to deliver a date for the event in 2020.
The Athletic reported "Fury had every intention of fighting Wilder in 2020 and made several concessions regarding rescheduled dates. However, he was unwilling to allow this situation to drag out, delaying a series of fights with Joshua while also keeping him out of the ring for an extended period of time." On 17 May 2021, the proposed unification fight between Fury and Joshua was thrown into serious doubt when
arbitration judge Daniel Weinstein ruled that Fury will have to honour a contractual clause which mandates a third fight with Wilder. Subsequently, Bob Arum claimed that the
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas had been reserved for 24 July in anticipation of Fury's trilogy fight with Wilder. On 22 May 2021, Fury announced during the broadcast of
José Ramírez vs. Josh Taylor on
ESPN that he had signed the contract for the Wilder trilogy fight, which ESPN showed footage of Fury signing. It was also confirmed by Wilder's manager
Shelly Finkel that his fighter had signed the contract, and that the fight was on. Ahead of their pre-fight press conference on 15 June, the venue was officially confirmed as
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, where Fury had previously defeated
Otto Wallin by unanimous decision on 14 September 2019. The bout was postponed from the original date of 24 July until 9 October, after Fury's camp had an outbreak of
COVID-19. At the pre-fight weigh-in on 8 October, both men weighed in at their respective career-heaviest weights, with the champion Fury weighing in at 277 lbs (19
st 11 lb), and the challenger Wilder at 238 lbs (17 st). On the night, both men exchanged a total of five knockdowns as Fury won the bout via eleventh-round knockout. Wilder had started the first round well, jabbing the champion to the body and landing several clean right hands to his chest and stomach, doing enough to win the first round on all three judges' scorecards. In the second, Fury landed some good shots in the clinch. Midway through the third, Fury sent Wilder to the canvas with a series of hard right hands, and continued to pummel him as Wilder was effectively saved by the bell. Wilder came back in the fourth with a vicious short right hand that put Fury down on the canvas. Wilder continued coming forwards, and sent the champion down again towards the end of the round. In the middle rounds, Fury recovered and started landing with more regularity, racking up a commanding lead on the cards and marking up Wilder's face badly, with the latter now visibly exhausted as a result of all of the punishment he had taken. In the tenth, Wilder was decked by a huge right hook, but came back yet again with a huge series of wild swings that caught Fury at the bell. With Wilder badly hurt and bleeding, Fury managed to finish his opponent in the eleventh round with a clean right hook thrown from the clinch. Referee Robert Mora waved the contest off with Wilder face-down on the canvas. After the fight, Fury praised his opponent, calling Wilder a "top fighter", but criticised him for being a "sore loser" and refusing to "show any sportsmanship or respect". In his post-fight interview, Fury stated "I'm a sportsman. I went over to him to show some love and respect and he didn't show it back. I will pray for him so that God will soften his heart." Fury then added that it "was a great fight tonight, worthy of the best of trilogies." Fury asserted his view that he is the best boxer in his division, stating "I'm now the greatest heavyweight of my era, without a doubt." At the time of the stoppage, Fury was winning the bout on all three scorecards with 95–91, 94–92, and 95–92. According to
CompuBox, Fury landed 150 of 385 punches (39%), while Wilder connected with 72 of 355 punches (20%). The 150 punches landed on Wilder is the most ever landed by an opponent. Despite the back and forth nature of the bout, CompuBox calculated Fury as having outlanded Wilder in every single round of the fight, including the fourth round in which Fury was knocked down twice. The fight was widely acclaimed by observers and pundits for its action and high-level intensity: hall-of-fame promoter
Bob Arum said, "I've been in this business 57 years promoting fights and I have to say I've truly never seen a heavyweight fight as magnificent as this", while the
Ring magazine described it as "the obvious fight of the year so far" and "a rare and historic heavyweight championship trilogy". Sulaiman had set a deadline of 11 January 2022 for
purse bids, as the two fighters' camps could not agree to terms. However, this deadline was pushed back multiple times, in part due to ongoing negotiations from Fury's team who were trying to secure the fight for the
undisputed heavyweight championship against undefeated
WBA (Super),
IBF and
WBO heavyweight champion
Oleksandr Usyk. A fight between Fury and Usyk did not materialise, as deposed former champion
Anthony Joshua was unwilling to step aside to allow the two champions to fight. The deadline for the Fury-Whyte purse bids was ultimately scheduled for 28 January 2022, when it was announced that
Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions had won the rights to promote the fight, with a winning bid of $41,025,000 (£31 million), beating out the $32,222,222 (£24 million) bid submitted by
Eddie Hearn's
Matchroom. Warren's bid was reported to be the highest successful purse bid in boxing history. Fury reacted to the news, stating on social media that he is "coming home", suggesting that the fight against Whyte would be the first time he would box on U.K. soil since his August 2018 win against
Francesco Pianeta. On 25 February, it was officially announced that the fight would be taking place at
Wembley Stadium in London, England on 23 April. The first press conference for the fight took place on 1 March at Wembley Stadium, with Whyte absent. Whyte's lawyer stated that his client would not be partaking in promoting the fight, as "we still do not have things resolved". Despite his opponent's non-attendance, Fury as usual was "in full showman mode", declaring, "Even Tyson Fury versus his own shadow sells", and promising that the fight "is going to be a
Ferrari racing a
Vauxhall Corsa". When asked about Whyte's no-show, Fury opined, "He's definitely shown the white flag in my estimation." In addition, he stated that his bout against Whyte would be the final fight of his professional career, promising to retire after the fight: "I'm a two-time undisputed world champion. [I have] £150m in the bank and nothing to prove to anybody." Tickets for the fight went on sale on 2 March. 85,000 of the 90,000 available tickets were sold within the first 3 hours, prompting Fury's promoter Frank Warren to begin the process of applying to the local authorities to expand the capacity to 100,000 fans, which would make Fury-Whyte the largest post-war boxing attendance in the history of the United Kingdom. The contest ultimately took place in front of a record-breaking crowd of 94,000 fans: 4,000 more than the attendance of
Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko which also took place at Wembley Stadium in 2017, thus setting a new attendance record for a boxing match in Europe. In the direct lead up to the fight, Fury performed an eight-minute video presentation and ring walk, accompanied by a large
fireworks display, that some have ranked as one of the best ring walks in the history of the sport. In an audiovisual montage, the spectacle was opened by a purpose-made re-recording of
Don McLean's "
American Pie" to a compilation of Fury's knockouts, followed by a
Saint George's Day display with the
Union Jack and an instrumental rendition of English patriotic song "
Jerusalem". Fury was dressed head-to-toe in the colours of the
St. George's Cross and wore gloves with the Cross on them. In contrast to the boos received by his opponent Whyte during his own ring walk, Fury was given a rousing reception by the crowd, stopping at one point to put on a crown and sit atop a throne. Following the video display, he walked out to a backdrop of "
Juicy" by
The Notorious B.I.G. and "
Sex on Fire" by
Kings of Leon. Whyte unexpectedly boxed the first round in the
southpaw stance, which was unusual for the primarily orthodox fighter. After a cautious first three minutes, Fury returned the favour at the start of the second round by switching between the southpaw and orthodox stances. The champion found success with the jab and
check hook. In the fourth round, Whyte was cut over his right eye after a clash of heads. Fury continued to dominate the fight, landing a straight right in the fifth round which appeared to momentarily stun the challenger. With around ten seconds left of the sixth round, Fury landed a left jab, followed by a right uppercut which sent Whyte sprawling to the canvas. Although Whyte was able to beat the count and rise to his feet, the referee deemed it unsafe for him to continue, halting the fight after two minutes and fifty-nine seconds of the sixth round, declaring Fury the winner by sixth-round technical knockout. At the time of the stoppage, Fury was winning the bout on all three scorecards with 49–46, 48–47, and 50–45. In his post-fight ring interview, Fury claimed that the fight against Whyte was the last of his professional boxing career: "I've been in this game 20 years, I'm 34 in a few months. I said the third Wilder fight would be my last but I felt I owed the fans one last homecoming. This is definitely the end of the Gypsy King and I went out with a bang. Tonight was amazing but this is the end." He announced his fourth retirement on 12 August 2022 and relinquished his
Ring title.
Fury vs. Chisora III On 20 October 2022, it was announced that Fury would return from his short-lived retirement to defend his WBC title against
Derek Chisora in a trilogy bout on 3 December at
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, live on BT Sport Box Office. On the night of the fight, Fury defeated Chisora via 10th-round TKO in front of a crowd of 60,000 fans, in a dominant performance. After the fight, Fury called on fellow undefeated heavyweight champion
Oleksandr Usyk, who was seated ringside at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to join him between the ropes. Fury indicated his preference to face Usyk as his next opponent to determine the undisputed heavyweight champion. Fury added he would be happy to face WBO
interim champion Joe Joyce, who had also joined Fury and Usyk ringside post-fight.
Fury vs. Ngannou Fury faced former
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 28 October 2023, in what was Ngannou's professional boxing debut. WBC officials confirmed the fight would be ten rounds and count as an official bout, although Fury's title would not be at stake. Fury entered the fight as a 14–1 favourite, but he was knocked down in the third round. He went on to win the bout via controversial split decision. One judge scored the bout 95–94 to Ngannou, while the other two judges had it 96–93 and 95–94 in Fury's favour. According to
CompuBox, Fury outlanded Ngannou 71 to 59 in total punches, while Ngannou outlanded Fury 37 to 32 in power punches. When asked in his in-ring interview about the fight, Fury said "[Ngannou] is a lot better of a boxer than we thought he'd be. He's a very awkward man, and he's a good puncher, and I respect him a lot. [...] I don't know how close [the fight] was, but I got the win and that's what it is."
Oleksandr Usyk, who was in attendance, then entered the ring and faced off with Fury to promote their scheduled bout for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
Challenging for undisputed/unified heavyweight championship Fury vs. Usyk On 29 September 2023, it was announced Fury had signed a contract to face the unified WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion
Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The fight was originally scheduled for 23 December but was delayed to 17 February 2024 after Fury's bout with Francis Ngannou in October 2023. On 2 February, it was announced the fight had been postponed again after Fury suffered a cut in sparring above his right eye that required "urgent medical attention" and "significant stitching". The fight was rescheduled for 18 May 2024 and would crown the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four belt era, as well as the first undisputed heavyweight champion in nearly 25 years. Fury lost the bout via split decision, the first loss in his professional boxing career. The opening rounds of the fight were closely contested, with Usyk applying constant pressure and landing power punches, while Fury found success with his jab, fighting off the back foot. From round 4, Fury became increasingly dominant, appearing to hurt Usyk with uppercuts in round 6. However, in the later rounds Usyk began to mount a comeback, particularly in a dramatic ninth round where he was able to badly hurt Fury with a series of punches, scoring a knockdown near the end of the round as Fury fell into the ropes. Although Fury was able to recover and attempted to rally, the judges ultimately awarded Usyk the victory. One judge had it 114–113 for Fury, while the other two scored it 115–112 and 114–113 in Usyk's favour. CompuBox suggested Fury had landed 157 of 496 punches (31.7%) whilst Usyk landed 170 of 407 (41.8%).
Fury vs. Usyk II Usyk and Fury were expected to meet in a rematch in October 2024 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On 29 May 2024 it was announced that the rematch was scheduled for 21 December 2024. The total purse for the rematch was reportedly worth $190–191 million (£150 million). While the purse split was not disclosed, it was speculated to be either 55/45 or 60/40 in favor of Usyk, meaning Fury would be guaranteed $75–84 million. However, Usyk's manager Alexander Krassyuk denied these speculations: "We do not have a specific purse distribution. We have certain agreements: Tyson Fury has agreements with the organizers, and Oleksandr Usyk has agreements with the organizers." With Usyk vacating the
IBF heavyweight title on 25 June 2024, the undisputed status was not on the line. In December 2024 before the fight, Fury stated that Usyk was the best boxer in the world. Usyk won the bout by unanimous decision with all three ringside judges scoring it 116–112. The fight was just as competitive as the first encounter. By the end of the fight, neither boxer was particularly hurt. Usyk landed with some stinging shots which pushed Fury back, while Fury landed some hard shots to head and body. A few times in the fight Fury turned southpaw. He tried to lean on Usyk and weigh him down, but Usyk did well to fight him off and keep him at a distance. He used his footwork to move strategically around the ring. According to
CompuBox, Usyk landed 179 punches out of 423 (42.3% accuracy), while Fury connected on 144 punches of 509 (28.3%). Usyk outlanded Fury in rounds 2–3 and 5–12; Fury outlanded Usyk in the fourth (11 punches to 10), while the opening round was even (six punches each). Usyk also connected on more power punches in seven rounds out of twelve, including the first round, while the last round was even (11 shots each). Writers from
ESPN,
The Independent,
The New York Times, MMA Fighting,
CBS Sports,
The Sporting News and Bad Left Hook all had Usyk winning, with scores ranging from 115–113 to 117–111. Fury felt he did enough to win the rematch. His promoter
Frank Warren was shocked at the scorecards. He brought the scorecard sheet into the ring. 7 out of the 12 rounds were all score unanimously for Usyk on all three judges cards. Prior to speaking to the reporters, Warren showed Fury the scorecards, which led Fury and his team to exit the ring and make their way to the dressing room. Warren said, "I showed it to him, I'm dumbfounded. They gave him four rounds out of 12, which is impossible. I've been around a long time, and I know I'm biased, but one judge didn't give him any rounds from six onwards. Not one round. How can that be? Same with another judge, he gave him one round out of the last six, and the same here with this guy. It's crazy." Usyk spoke with respect towards Fury in the post-fight ring interviews, "I very respect this guy because I think he's very tough .. Tyson Fury makes me strong. Tyson is a great opponent. Big man. He's a good man. Tyson, a lot of talk, but it's just show." Usyk felt the rematch was easier than the first. Despite being absent in the ring following the fight, Fury attended the post-fight press conference. He said, "More serious … I thought I won the fight again … I was on the front foot the entire time. When you don't get the knockout, this is what can happen." Heading into the final round, Fury was confident he was ahead.
Post-title career Fury vs. Makhmudov On 13 January 2025, Fury announced his fifth retirement from professional boxing via
Instagram. Some commentators had speculated on a potential return in light of his previous retirement announcements. On 4 January 2026, Fury appeared to announce a return to professional boxing, again via Instagram. On 28 January 2026, it was announced that Fury would fight
Arslanbek Makhmudov (21–2, 19 KOs) on 11 April 2026 at a venue to be confirmed later in the United Kingdom. It was announced on 12 February 2026, that the fight would take place at
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The fight would be broadcast on
Netflix, which would be the first time Fury fought on the video streaming service. Fury reportedly received a purse of $25 million (£18.6 million) for the fight, with Makhmudov receiving a career-high purse of £2 million. Fury weighed in at 267.9 lbs, while Makhumudov weighed in slightly lighter at 264.9 lbs. On fight night, Fury showed no real signs of ring rust after his 15-month lay-off as he outboxed Makhumudov with ease to a unanimous decision victory, with the judges' scorecards reading 120–108 x2 and 119–109 in favour of Fury. After the fight,
Turki Al-Sheikh indicated that Fury would be facing his longtime British rival
Anthony Joshua next. Fury addressed Joshua who was ringside, exclaiming: "Let's give the fight fans what they want. Do not run from me this time. Ten years in the making. Let's dance." Joshua initially declined to speak, before replying, "I punched you up when we were kids and I'll punch you up again." At the post-fight press conference, Fury reiterated his desire to face Joshua next, and clarified that while he had already signed for the fight, he was unclear if Joshua had done the same, and expressed doubt that he would do: "[Joshua] was brought here tonight, ringside, for a reason. To get the fight done. I signed months ago, I don’t know if he’s signed, and by the looks of it, he’s not gonna [sic]."
Fury vs. Joshua A mega fight between Fury and Joshua had been discussed since 2016. There were times when the fight was considered while both held world titles; however, mandatories and broken-down negotiations always played a key role in preventing the fight from crossing the line. The fight came very close to happening in 2021 for the undisputed heavyweight championship but was derailed when Wilder exercised a rematch clause against Fury, leading to a
trilogy between Fury and Wilder. Joshua went on to
lose his unified world titles to Usyk, and Fury made some defenses, eventually losing his WBC title to Usyk in 2024. On 12 December 2025,
Ring magazine announced the fight would finally take place in 2026 under Riyadh Season, after both Joshua and Fury take warm-up fights. Frank Warren told Sky Sports News: "There's been some talks going on, there's nothing been signed yet, but Tyson's indicated if it's the right deal, he'll definitely do it." After
stopping Jake Paul, Joshua said, “If Tyson Fury is serious, step in the ring with me next … Don’t do all that talking, let’s fight.” Joshua was then involved in a fatal car crash on 29 December in Nigeria, where two of his close friends died, and Joshua suffering minor injuries, putting doubts on the future of his career. As with many big fights involving Al-Sheikh, it was believed that both Joshua and Fury would sign their own contracts through him to make the fight happen. According to Warren, Fury had signed his contract. On 15 April, Hearn confirmed that a match between Fury and Joshua would not take place at
Croke Park in Dublin. This was despite speculation following remarks from
Croke Park's chief executive, Peter McKenna, about a potential event featuring Fury alongside
Katie Taylor's farewell fight. Hearn wanted Taylor to be the sole focus of her farewell fight. Hearn confirmed the match would be promoted by Saudi company
Sela. On 27 April, Al-Sheikh announced the fight between Joshua and Fury would take place later in the year, on
Netflix. According to Warren, there was a likelihood of Fury taking another fight in the interim. ==Professional wrestling==