A significant chapter of heavyweight boxing comes to an end as former champion Tyson Fury announced his retirement earlier today. ‘The Gypsy King’ of course, is coming off consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk, and was expected to fight Anthony Joshua in a blockbuster clash next. However, the former champ surprised the combat sports world by declaring that he had decided to finally retire after one of the most turbulent and entertaining careers in the entire history of boxing.

“Hi everybody, I’m gonna make this short and sweet. I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast I’ve loved every single minute of it and I’m gonna end with this- Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side,” Fury said in a video uploaded on his Instagram.

Of course, the retirement of one of the biggest, most popular fighters in the world is big news and has led to a flurry of reactions from fellow fighters and fans. Now let us take a look a closer look at their reactions.

Claressa Shields, Evander Holyfield, and Jorge Masvidal weigh in on Tyson Fury’s retirement

Claressa Shields is considered the greatest female boxer of all time. The former five-division world champion, seemingly sad at the news, took to Instagram and expressed her heartfelt thanks for Tyson Fury and his wildly entertaining career: “😩😩😩 HAPPY RETIREMENT BIG GUY YOU DESERVE IT! You gave us some great fights! Much love!”

Legendary former champion Evander Holyfield, who knows a thing or two about being retired simply wished the former champion well and hoped that Fury could enjoy his retirement: “Good luck Champ. Enjoy your retirement” Former UFC superstar Jorge Masvidal, who was a showman like ‘The Gypsy King’, and is set to come back from retirement this year, simply wrote “Legendary fighter” perfectly encapsulating Fury’s career and the legacy he is leaving behind.

On the other hand, most fans were much more skeptical about Fury retiring. After all, the Englishman has announced his retirement at least twice before, only to come back only months later. This is why one fan wrote: “See you in 6 months lad” Many of the fans felt that ‘The Gypsy King’ announcing his retirement so abruptly was just a tactic to gain more leverage in the negotiations for a possible Joshua fight: “In short. The AJ negotiations have begun and he’s not happy with the first offer. 😂”.

Another fan completely agreed with this sentiment and felt that Fury was playing his usual games, telling the Englishman that they wouldn’t fall for the old ‘I’m retiring’ trick again: “Let’s be honest, we all know what you’re doing here.” Joshua-Fury may well have been the biggest fight in the history of British boxing given both men’s popularity and how long that fight has been in the making.

To be fair, most expect Fury to win that fight, however, one fan thinks that the reason Fury retired was that he was too scared of fighting Anthony Joshua: “Running from AJ 😂😂😂”. What do you think about fellow fighters’ and fans’ reactions to Tyson Fury’s retirement?