Eddie Hearn believes Tyson Fury’s loss to Oleksandr Usyk could prove a make-or-break moment for the 35-year-old.
The so-called Gypsy King lost his belts to Usyk, who became the heavyweight division’s first-ever unified champion after a points victory in Saudi Arabia in May.
The Ukranian was also the first to get the better of Fury, who had previously gone a staggering 34 professional fights without tasting defeat.
Speaking on the True Geordie podcast, legendary boxing promoter Eddie Hearn seemed to question whether Fury could recover from such a momentous setback.
“I think sometimes you don’t understand what a loss can do to a fighter,” he said. “I think it will really personally affect him if I’m honest.
“Every fighter in the world puts on a brave face, but I’m sure they cry themselves to sleep because it’s a cutthroat business.
“You give your whole life to something and you get beat, and I know people close to Fury will be saying, ‘Are you alright pal?’
“And he’ll say, ‘Yeah, of course, it was a close fight, I’ll get him in the rematch,’ and then he’ll spend the whole day, daydreaming in depression.”
Fury and Usyk were quick to put pen-to-paper on another ‘winner-takes-all’ bout in the aftermath, and Hearn believes it’s vital that Fury maintains his hunger if he wants to reclaim his throne.
“If Fury right now is going, ‘I don’t give a f*ck anyway, whatever, I got paid a load of money,’ and that’s his genuine thoughts, then he should retire from the sport.
“He’s definitely wounded, and he should be. It should hurt so much.”
Fury and Usyk will meet for another historic encounter in Saudi Arabia on December 21.
