- Tyson Fury last fought in December when he was defeated by Oleksandr Usyk.
- The former world heavyweight champion was expected to fight Anthony Joshua.
- But, the Gypsy King shocked the boxing world by announcing his retirement.
Eddie Hearn has insisted Anthony Joshua has plenty of options should Tyson Fury make good on this week's shock retirement announcement.
Hearn revealed on Monday that he had booked Wembley Stadium ahead of a potential all-British showdown between Joshua and Fury, just hours before Gypsy King released an explosive update on his boxing future.
On social media, Fury said: “Hey everyone, I'm going to make this short and sweet.”
'I would like to announce my retirement from boxing. It has been wonderful, I have loved every minute. I'm going to finish this. Dick Turpin was wearing a mask. God bless you all, see you on the other side. GET UP!'
Fans are now coming to terms with the fact that they may never see a fight between Fury and Joshua, which has been a decade in the making.
Both men were defeated twice by Oleksandr Usyk, but there was still great interest in establishing the British king.
Anthony Joshua (R) has seven different options to fight next, according to Eddie Hearn (L)
Some are now wondering where Joshua goes from here, but promoter Hearn claims he still has seven other potential opponents.
talking to the sunnamed Martin Bakole, Dillian Whyte, Deontay Wilder, Zhilei Zhang, Agit Kabayel, Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker as alternatives.
Joshua suffered a knockout loss to Dubois at Wembley in his last fight as his fellow Briton retained the IBF title.
He has defeated three of the other men on Hearn's roster with wins over Parker and Whyte, while also beating Zhang at the 2012 Olympics.
A showdown with former WBC champion Wilder may not generate the same interest as it did a few years ago, but there's no doubt it's still a great fight.
However, Hearn remains confident that Fury will reverse his decision.
I saw it coming, yes. “I saw it coming,” he said when asked by The Sun about the Gypsy King's retirement.
'If you ever want to come back and get the maximum, you have to retire first, right? Someone has to get you out of retirement.
Fury took to social media on Monday to announce that he is retiring from the sport of boxing.
“So listen, if that's the last time we see Tyson Fury, good luck to him. I doubt it personally. Whatever he chooses to do, a lot of respect to him.
“I think he'll want to fight again, I think he'll get bored.” I think you know that the British public wants to see AJ fight.
“My personal belief is that we will see him in the ring again. If not, good luck to the man.