Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois have had quite the relationship in the world of boxing over the years. The ‘Gypsy King’ announced his retirement from boxing in January after back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk at the age of 36.
He first risked his WBC heavyweight title for a shot at Usyk’s collection of WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO belts in May, only to suffer the first loss of his professional career via split decision. Their rematch in December saw Fury lose again, this time by unanimous decision to his 38-year-old rival, before deciding to retire the following month.
Despite ending his career on a series of losses, Fury will be remembered as one of the greatest heavyweights in history. And while Dubois was forced to pull out of his IBF title defence against Joseph Parker on Saturday evening, Express Sport explores his relationship with Fury over the years….
Praise for a knockout of Anthony Joshua
After winning his IBF title in September with a fifth-round knockout of two-time world champion Anthony Joshua at Wembley, Fury congratulated ‘DDD’ on his achievements.
The heavyweight titan praised the knockout, saying: “Fantastic job. He did a very good job and fair play to young Dan. Everybody wrote him off you know. Coming here he was the world champion and everyone chatted like he was a bum. And he showed what he’s made of and it’s very good for him. Fantastic. Fair play.”
A striking sparring admission
Despite never having faced each other professionally, Fury and Dubois have a history dating back to 2017 when they engaged in sparring with one another. Fury quickly recognised Dubois’ talent, explaining: “I was fat, 27 stone. We had a move around and it was a pleasure. He’d never even had a pro fight, but I found out he was a very good fighter straight away.”
Since then, Dubois has built an impressive professional record of 22-2, with victories over Joshua, Filip Hrgovic, and Jarrell Miller, among others. His only losses to date have been to Joe Joyce in 2020 and Usyk in 2023.
However, if Dubois’ fifth-round knockdown of Usyk hadn’t been ruled a low blow, he could have won the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles and faced WBC champion Fury for his own shot at undisputed greatness.
A promise to regain his IBF title
Despite giving Dubois his flowers, Fury also recognised that he was an opponent in the grand scheme of things, and promised to regain his IBF belt from the heavyweight in the wake of ‘DDD’s’ win over Joshua.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, he said: “It’s heavyweight boxing boys, it happens. S*** happens, you get knocked spark out. It could have been me, it could have been you, it could have been anybody. In the heavyweight division, it’s what happens – one punch away from being smash, knocked out.”
He added: “When I fight Usyk again in December and I beat him, I’ll rein all the belts that I should never have lost, and then I’ll fight Dubois and take that [the IBF title] off him as well.”
Despite Fury’s ambitions, he did not capture the WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and IBO titles from Usyk in their rematch and retired before a potential bout with Dubois for the IBF title could come to fruition.
Retirement advice from Dubois
After suffering consecutive defeats to Usyk, Dubois suggested that Fury should hang up his gloves in December. The 27-year-old told Seconds Out: “Fury has had a great career. I think it’s time for him to call it a day now.”
Fury ultimately chose to retire the following month, uploading a video to social media where he said: “Hi everybody, I’m going to 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 going to end with this; Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody, see you on the other side. Get up.”
This cryptic comparison followed his controversial defeat to Usyk, hinting at feelings of being robbed by the 116-112 decision in the Ukrainian’s favour.
In the aftermath, Dubois also seized the moment to demand a rematch with Usyk, boldly interrupting his post-fight interview and saying: “Usyk, I want my revenge. I want my revenge Usyk. Well done on tonight, well done on tonight. God Bless. I want my revenge on the robbery last time. Let’s get it, let’s go.”