Tyson Fury: Top Rank president Todd duBoef on what could tempt ‘The Gypsy King’ back into the ring | Boxing News

Todd duBoef believes a unification bout or a showdown with mixed martial arts star Francis Ngannou could tempt Tyson Fury back into action but admits the unbeaten heavyweight’s future remains up in the air.

Fury has repeatedly insisted he has retired from boxing after successfully defending his WBC world heavyweight crown by stopping Dillian Whyte in the sixth round at Wembley in April, including sharing pictures and videos of him and his family enjoying life in the South of France on social media.

Rumours of a possible end-of-year unification clash with the winner of the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua, or a hybrid fight against UFC heavyweight champion Ngannou – who joined Fury in the ring after his win over Whyte – persist though.

But while DuBoef, president of Fury’s American promoters Top Rank, stated there are no plans in place for the ‘Gypsy King’ to return to the ring, he knows both could bring about a change of heart from the 33-year-old.

“I think there is obviously a lot brewing about the rematch between AJ and Usyk,” DuBoef told Sky Sports. “Obviously that has always been on his and everybody’s target, but I think at this point there is nothing to be talked about because he hasn’t determined what he wants to do.

“Maybe the winner, when that fight happens, can pull him out, or maybe something else can be motivational like Ngannou.

“We saw Francis Ngannou get in the ring and it was kind of bizarre that the guy was retiring but the MMA heavyweight champion was getting in the ring to talk smack – which one are we doing here?

“But is it going to be he just sits in the South of France on the beach there and enjoys it? That again, I am speaking for him and that is a difficult position for me to be in to speak on what his feelings are.”

Should the win over Whyte prove to be Fury’s last fight, it would mean he ends his professional boxing career with a 32(23)-0-1 record and having gone out as only the second heavyweight champion to retire undefeated along with the great Rocky Marciano.

Having seen the videos and pictures of Fury enjoying some well-earned downtime in the South of France, DuBoef made no secret of the fact he could see the appeal of doing just that.

He hopes this does not prove to be the final chapter for ‘The Gypsy King’ as far as boxing is concerned, although could understand why Fury would choose to hang up his gloves after clawing his way back to the top of the sport since his comeback from two-and-a-half years out of the ring in 2018.

“I think he has climbed the mountain and he has done so much since his return to boxing, and I think that final piece of 94,000 at Wembley is almost like ‘I got to the top, this is Everest’ and he has accomplished a lot,” DuBoef said.

“So, where he goes and who motivates him and what motivates him is again his own interest.

“He is a competitor and like most athletes in their prime they want to shine, and they want the attention and hopefully he will have that craving and desire that he wants to get back into the ring.

“And if not then he may just say ‘hey, I want to look at something else or do something different in my life.’ But I think those are his decisions.”