Ricky Hatton urges Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua to fight, then retire

Ricky Hatton says Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua should fight this year before hanging up the gloves.

Ricky Hatton is calling on Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua to consider retirement, feeling the two are both showing their years in the ring, but also wants to see the pair fight one another in one more bout for both.

Fury, 36, announced his retirement this week, though few seem to think it will stick any more than his previous retirement announcements did.

The 46-year-old Hatton retired from boxing after a comeback loss to Vyacheslav Senchenko in 2012, over three years after his famous loss to Manny Pacquiao.

From iFL TV:

“I think they’re both ready for hanging the gloves up now, I think they should do. They’ve had great careers and I think the miles are on the clock now and the wear and tear’s starting to show for them.

“But I think, one more fight, lads. Do you know what I mean? You don’t want to be sat on your couch scratching your balls like I do every night of the week, thinking, ‘What would have happened if I fought him?’”

If there’s a single fight that didn’t happen in Hatton’s career that he himself may still wonder about, it’s probably Junior Witter, with whom Hatton had a lengthy media feud that never resulted in the pair settling it in the ring, similar to how it’s gone to date with Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO) and the 35-year-old Joshua (28-4, 25 KO).

The prevailing thought seems to be that Fury vs Joshua is definitely still on the table, even with Fury’s retirement announcement. Turki Alalshaikh has the money to make the fight a reality, and Eddie Hearn says that Wembley Stadium has been reserved for the summer to potentially host the bout.

Both fighters are coming off of losses, with Fury dropping two decisions to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, and Joshua knocked out pretty brutally by Daniel Dubois in September.