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Tyson Fury names opponent, venue, and date for return
The return of former heavyweight king Tyson Fury has begun to gather pace with a date, venue, and potential opponent already named for next year.
After the announcement last night of the return of the ‘Gypsy King’, Fury posted on his Instagram this morning that he had a third fight scheduled with Oleksandr Usyk. According to his post on the social media site, the third fight between the pair will take place on 18 April at Wembley Stadium, with tickets already available.
If such a deal has been reached, it is both somewhat premature and bizarre. Usyk, 23-0 (14), is scheduled to fight Daniel Dubois on 19 July, exclusively on DAZN pay-per-view. And the April date is nine-and-a-half months away.
A flurry of posts last night from Turki Alalshikh, Fury, and The Ring confirmed what had been in the works for a long time: the return of the former heavyweight king.
Posting on X, Alalshikh said: “The 'Gypsy King' will be back!!! I talked with him, and I have his word to have him in Riyadh Season in 2026 ... 🥊 We have a rabbit to hunt!”
The nickname ‘rabbit’ has been one that Fury has used against Usyk in recent years.
Fury, 34-2-1 (24), has a long history of retirements – at least four over the last twelve years. Fury has so far left the sport in 2013, 2017, 2022, and 2025.
On his last retirement in January, following the second loss to Usyk, promoter Bob Arum reassured the BBC that Fury would stay retired this time.
Arum said: “If I was a betting man I would say he will never fight again. Marvin Hagler had an expression - 'a rich guy who goes to bed wearing silk pyjamas doesn't get up in the morning to do road work'. Tyson, really, I don't think wants to get up in the morning and do road work and go through the experience of having to train when economically he doesn't have to do it any more."
The retirement has apparently not stuck.
The most-recent retirement occurred after the second loss to Oleksandr Usyk. Fury lost a unanimous decision to the Ukrainian in December, following a split-decision loss in May last year. Prior to that, Fury had struggled to contain Francis Ngannou over ten rounds. Those three fights – which all took place in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia – followed Fury stopping Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in stadium fights in London.
Watch Usyk vs Dubois 2 exclusively live on DAZN PPV, Saturday, July 19. Buy the PPV now here.
