Tyson Fury’s trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder led him to make the decision to briefly step away from boxing.

The WBC heavyweight world champion spent a few months insisting he’d quit the sport for good in 2022, a year after his barnstorming third bout with Wilder despite many doubts from those in the boxing world. They were doubts, which ultimately proved correct.

3Fury was floored twice by Wilder in round four of their trilogy fightCredit: Frank Micelotta/FOX

Fury announced his brief retirement after knocking out Dillian Whyte in April 2022, and explained his decision was actually first prompted by Wilder’s power.

Discussing his trilogy win over Wilder, Fury said: “I knocked him out in round 11, but it wasn’t just hunky dory and let’s all skip back to the changing rooms.

“I was feeling the back of my head and I had lumps on the back of my head like fists.

“I didn’t know if I had brain damage, I didn’t know what was up with me.

“I was very frightened because I had these massive swellings on the back of my head.

“I was thinking, ‘I could end up with brain damage.’ I was concussed, I didn’t remember anything.

“I suppose when you get knocked down like that you don’t remember a lot. I was thinking, ‘Did I get put down four times?’ I actually got put down twice.

“I thought to myself, ‘You know what? I think it’s time to call it a day.’ That was after Wilder 3.

3After his first fight with Wilder in 2018, Fury put his injuries on showCredit: SecondsOut3Fury’s experience with Wilder prompted him to retireCredit: GETTY

“I promised [wife] Paris, I said, ‘This is going to be my last fight, babe. I won’t put you through this anymore.’

“I saw everyone ringside and the amount of stress it was putting on them. I actually said, ‘I won’t fight again after this. I meant it.’

“I got back home, I had a couple of weeks doing the bins and the school run… I said to Paris, ‘I’m going to do one more fight, babe, in England.’

“I felt like I needed to

Responding to calls for him to return, Fury added: “I definitely had a successful career, but how many times do you have to risk getting injured? People say, ‘One more, two more, ten more.’

“But if I was to wheel myself out here in a wheelchair and say, ‘I had four more fights guys and got brain damage, thank you very much.’

“I’m the one that’s getting in there getting punched in the head by these giant men. You’ve gotta want to do these fights. I don’t want to come back to boxing.”

Not long later, Fury did in fact change his tune and came back to face Derek Chisora in December 2022.

After a win over Francis Ngannou last year, he is now set to face Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed crown on May 18.

It will be the first time a heavyweight champion has been crowned in the four-belt era and first in 25 years, with Lennox Lewis being the last.

Lewis himself told talkSPORT that Fury’s size may prove the difference.

“I think Tyson Fury on points, but I’m not counting out Usyk.”