Fury, who has retired twice, tells rival Wilder to hang up his gloves

Tyson Fury, the former heavyweight world champion who has announced his retirement multiple times only to return to the ring, is now urging old rival Deontay Wilder to do what he himself has failed to do — quit for good. Fury says Wilder has lost the punching power that once defined him and would be better off walking away.

US boxing outlet Boxing Scene reported Friday that Fury expressed concern about Wilder's continued career in an interview with FightHype.

Speaking about Wilder's upcoming heavyweight bout against Jay Opetaia, 31, of Australia at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, on Dec. 11, Fury said Wilder should not be stepping into the ring. "He should have retired when I last beat him," Fury said.

Wilder's next opponent, Opetaia, is an unbeaten cruiserweight standout with a 31-0 record who is moving up to heavyweight for the fight. Wilder holds a record of 45 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw with 43 knockouts, and faces pressure to prove he still belongs at the top level.

Fury and Wilder built one of boxing's defining heavyweight rivalries across three fights between 2018 and 2021. Their first meeting ended in a draw, but Fury stopped Wilder in the seventh round in their 2020 rematch and knocked him out in the 11th round in their third fight in 2021.

In that third bout, Wilder had put Fury down twice, showcasing his trademark power. But back-to-back losses to Joseph Parker of New Zealand and Zhilei Zhang of China left many observers concluding that Wilder had never fully recovered his peak form.

Wilder did earn a 12-round split-decision win over Derrick Chisora, 42, of Britain in April, but Fury said even that performance showed his punch was no longer what it used to be.

"Chisora took Wilder's best shots flush on the face and didn't even flinch," Fury said. "Five years ago, he wouldn't have lasted a single round."

Fury himself, however, has repeatedly shown that he cannot stay away from the sport, and his own performances have raised questions about his decline. He announced his retirement after beating Dillian Whyte in 2022, only to return later that year. After losing twice to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, he announced his retirement again in January 2025 — but came back this year to beat Arslanbek Makhmudov and Mariusz Wach in succession.

Fury acknowledged that leaving boxing is easier said than done. "It's a hard thing to walk away from boxing. I've seen many great fighters come back for various reasons — mostly financial," he said.

Fury currently holds a professional record of 36 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw with 25 knockouts. He is set to face Anthony Joshua, 37, of Britain in the main event of the same Dec. 11 card.