Tyson Fury is ready to step out of retirement once again after announcing his planned comeback this year.
The Gypsy King last fought in December 2024 when he was beaten for a second time by unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury, 37, then announced his retirement from the sport just a month later.
Posting on Instagram on Sunday, Fury said: “2026 is that year. Return of the Mac. Been away for a while but I’m back now. 37 years old and still punching. Nothing better to do than punch men in the face & get paid for it.”
It’s the sixth time in Fury’s career that he’s announced he is stepping away from boxing before making a return, and therefore, his latest comeback comes as no surprise.
Who will Tyson Fury fight next?
Fury has been very active on social media since announcing his comeback and is currently training in Thailand.
Posting on his Instagram stories, Fury shared an image of a three-man ‘hit-list’ pinned to a corkboard, courtesy of The Stomping Ground.
It included three images: one with the text ‘Usyk trilogy’, a picture of Fabio Wardley with the words ‘Back in the title mix’, and another of Mahmoud Charr alongside the caption ‘Answer Charr’s callout.’
Having already lost twice against Usyk, it’s unlikely the Ukrainian will entertain another bout with his old foe at this stage, particularly as he’s in talks to face Deontay Wilder.
Usyk was granted the opportunity to make a voluntary defence of his WBC heavyweight title, as Wilder is not ranked in the top 10 of the WBA, WBC, or IBF.
Earlier this month, Charr called out Fury on social media by saying: “Tyson Fury, the Arab king has arrived. Take the challenge. I’m coming to the UK.
“I’m ready to punch your face, man. Don’t talk too much, sign the paper. You promised the people.”
Charr, 41, won the WBA regular heavyweight title in 2017, but lost it following a defeat against Kubrat Pulev in December 2024.
Fury’s next opponent is most likely to be Wardley, in an all-British affair.
Wardley currently holds the WBO belt following Usyk’s decision to relinquish the title after being ordered to make a mandatory defence against the British heavyweight.
The 31-year-old told Sky Sports: “I think being open [to negotiations] might be a bit of an understatement. I’d be extremely keen to see if he’s genuine about it or not.
“He may be looking at it like it might be an easy touch for him to roll out of retirement, come into a fight, pick up a world title and go on to bigger things, but as fighters of late have found out, I’m quite the banana skin.”
Wardley is undefeated in 21 fights and last beat Joseph Parker in October to claim the WBO interim title.
Will Tyson Fury fight Anthony Joshua?
The long-awaited showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury took a tragic and uncertain turn in the first week of 2026 following the former’s car accident.
Two of Joshua’s close friends and team members were killed when their car collided with a parked lorry in Nigeria, just 10 days after beating Jake Paul.
It’s too soon to say whether Joshua will step back into the ring, with the consensus in the boxing world today being that “boxing can wait.”
There has been no statement from Joshua regarding his future in the ring.
