Fury suffered the first defeat of his professional career to the Ukrainian in May, losing out on the undisputed heavyweight title by split decision after a brutal ninth-round knockdown. The Gypsy King and Usyk have a rematch pencilled in for December 21 this year, though Nelson is adamant that Fury will not go ahead with the joint-biggest fight of his career in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Former fighter Nelson was asked about the concerning footage which emerged online of 6ft 9in Fury being escorted out of a Morecambe pub by security on Friday, having looked worse for wear. The 35-year-old was then filmed stumbling around and falling to his knees outside, even appearing to hit his head on a lamppost.

Nelson began by telling Seconds Out: “He’s a man, he’s gone out for a drink. That’s it. There’s no law against getting drunk. He’s not done anything wrong, he’s just got p***ed.”

He then suggested there was a link between the incident seen in the clip and the manner of his defeat three weeks ago, saying: “I think for Tyson Fury, the realisation of what’s happened to him, will kick in slowly but surely.

“It probably buys into all the theories of whether he will box again and where his head’s going to be at for the Usyk rematch. I don’t believe Tyson will fight Oleksandr Usyk next, or again. He could retire because of the manner of the defeat – he’s struggling to deal with it.

“As long as Usyk’s around, he ain’t gonna box. He can’t get his head around it. I don’t think he’ll go through that again. He can smile and joke but it’s a big deal.”

Johnny Nelson [pictured] thinks Tyson Fury will not fight Oleksandr Usyk again

Johnny Nelson [pictured] thinks Tyson Fury will not fight Oleksandr Usyk again.

Nelson was asked whether he was concerned that this was the start of a mental health spiral similar to the one Fury experienced after his win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015. Fury went into depression, ballooning to 28 stone and turning to alcohol and drugs before making a remarkable comeback after losing 10 stone.

“That’s exactly what it is,” the Sky Sports analyst said. “All these people around him trivialising it, they’re not in his head. They’re not the guys that took the beating. What does Tyson Fury need? He needs someone to listen to. “