Inside Tyson Fury's 'retirement' as he says farewell to boxing – but is this it

The best way to get someone to pay you to come out of retirement is to go into retirement.

Whether this is a negotiating tactic for the Anthony Joshua fight, an outburst of anger at someone or something or, in actual fact, the end of a great fighter we will have to wait and see. This is just another day in the world of Tyson Fury.

If Fury is happy and content then by all means sail off into the sunset. Boxing is a dangerous game and to nick one of Frank Warren’s lines from a recent Daily Star column, there’s no point having loads of money in the bank if you can’t remember what street the bank is on.

There’s too many former fighters left penniless and with little memory of the greatness they’ve achieved in the ring. You just need to ask Dave Harris, one of the volunteers trying to build a care home for former fighters who have fallen on hard times.

So to be clear, this isn’t criticising Fury’s decision to retire. If he actually has retired. Hang up 'em when you got millions earned and your wits about you.

Yet there is just the touch of the boy who cried wolf about Fury. That’s a shame. Because when he does retire, there should be great obituaries written about his very successful and storied career.

A two-time heavyweight champion, the battle back from a drugs ban and mental health crisis, the extraordinary third fight with Deontay Wilder and the upset of Wladimir Klitschko. WBA, IBF, WBO, WBC, European, British, Commonwealth and English champion. He often jokes about the only belt in boxing he's missing is the Central Area title. The one that got away. It has been some ride. So far.

There’s been ups, downs, highs and lows and they should be documented but you won’t see that in the next days and weeks. Because everyone expects him to return in the summer. He most likely will, too.