“Don’t be surprised if Tyson leaves,” said Sky Sports boxing expert Johnny Nelson following the star’s defeat last night.
The Mancunian boxer was almost knocked out and fought for the last three rounds before Oleksandr Usyk was crowned the new world heavyweight champion in Riyadh.
The Ukrainian won by split decision.
Mr Nelson said: “I think Tyson’s Fury You will be devastated by the outcome of this.
“Tyson’s team will have serious conversations about how to motivate him after this and recover his mind.
“What else can he do? How can he improve from this? This defeat would have done his head and his heart.”
After Usyk was declared undisputed world champion, Fury demanded a rematch.
“I believe I won that fight. I think he won a few rounds, but I won most of them,” he said.
But he later admitted at a press conference that he made mistakes and would do things differently in the future.
He said: “[I’ll] keep my defense a little tighter, a little more focused and without too much mess because I was having fun there, I was playing, I was hitting his body, I was hitting him with hooks to the head.
“I thought I was running the fight.”
However, former professional boxer Barry McGuigan thinks Fury has peaked.
“Tyson is starting to slip,” he told Sky Sports.
“His throwing ability isn’t as good as it used to be, his recovery powers aren’t as good as they used to be, and he’s getting older.”
Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk. Photo: Action Images via Reuters
But Fury said he boxed for the love of the sport – and when that love is gone, he will put away the gloves.
“I don’t box because I don’t have money, I box because I love it,” he told reporters after the fight.
“I will be 36 years old in a few months and I have been boxing since I was a child.
“As long as I’m loving the game, I’ll keep doing it. When I can’t do it anymore, I’ll pack it away.”
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Fury was on top of the world in 2015 when he defeated Wladimir Klitschko to win all four world title belts.
But his success was quickly followed by a dark period.
Public battles with depression and drug addiction ended up costing him his belt and causing him to retire from the sport.
He was accused of taking the banned substance nandrolone – which he denied – and admitted drinking heavily and taking cocaine.
Tyson Fury celebrates after defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020. Photo: AP
After declaring himself “medically unfit” to fight Klitschko, he said he would focus on his “medical treatment and recovery”.
In an emotional interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said he was “going through a lot of personal demons” and was a “manic depressive” – and admitted to having suicidal thoughts.
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In 2020, however, he returned to the spotlight of high-level boxing when defeated American fighter Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas.
Even the legendary Mike Tyson couldn’t contain his excitement watching Fury’s performance.
Now, after asking for a rematch in last night’s fight, it’s up to Fury how he will react to losing the biggest fight of his career to date.
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