Tyson Fury return proves a farce as former world heavyweight champion clowns his way to four-round victory

Sefer Seferi retired on his stool before the fifth round got underway as Fury kissed his opponent on the lips, taunted him and watched a scrap outside the ring among the fans

Tyson Fury clowned his way through his eagerly anticipated ring return at Manchester Arena, claiming victory when outclassed opponent Sefer Seferi was retired on his stool at the end of four wholly farcical rounds.

Fighting for the first time since he wrested the world heavyweight title from Wladimir Klitschko over two-and-a-half years ago, Fury gurned and showboated his way through much of the contest and earned a ticking-off from referee Phil Edwards.

Seferi, who had campaigned almost all his career as a cruiserweight, was never going to trouble the 6ft 9ins Fury by whom he was out-weighed by more than four-and-a-half stone, and the favourite was clearly capable of ending the fight at will.

Cheered to the ring during a ring-walk which included a clip of Afroman's 'Because I Got High' - presumably a sly dig at the drug-testers who contributed to his period of inactivity - Fury turned on the full pantomime act in the opening three minutes.

If he looked a little more serious from the second round onwards, it still felt like something of a non-event as the limited Seferi tried in vain to even reach Fury's head with his sluggish right uppercuts.

Sporadic thick right hands from Fury had Seferi on the back-foot in the fourth, and his corner evidently decided to spare him further drawn-out punishment when they summoned Edwards and withdrew their man at the end of the round.

There were few big punches of note from either boxer (Getty)

Nevertheless, the manner of his win was rendered relatively redundant when compared with the battle he has had to shed more than eight stones as well as winning a much-publicised battle with depression.

His promoter Frank Warren is evidently intent on keeping Fury busy as he begins his long road back towards the top, and he is next scheduled to fight at Windsor Park in Belfast on August 18.

It would do him good to have few nights as facile at this one, with the majority of the aggression in the arena supplied instead by a small pocket of fans who sparked a brief brawl midway through the bout.

Seferi's unsatisfactory withdrawal sent the boos - and the occasional drinks bottle - cascading down from the upper tiers, but for Fury at least, it is simply a case of reigniting a career that still promises much.

The fight was Fury's first since beating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 (Getty)

Fury was delighted with the win and vowed to win a world title before the end of the year.

He told BT Sport 1: "(Promoter) Frank's (Warren) going to keep me busy and I'm going to have a world title by the end of the year - that's a promise."

After over two years since his last professional fight, he added: "It felt fantastic (to be back). It was like I was having my debut again. It's been a long time out of the ring and I needed to get some rounds in.

"I'm very thankful to Frank Warren and everyone that came out to support me. (The support) It meant miracles to me. This opponent Seferi's a very tough guy. He came here, he started to get on the back foot and move around a bit which was quite awkward because he's quite a bit smaller than me.

"I wanted to fight, stand and have a fight with him. But it (the retirement) happened and it wasn't my fault that they pulled him out.

"I'm sure Frank's going to keep me busy and the calibre of opponents will keep rising."

Fury's taunts were met with a similar response (Getty)

When asked about Fury's next date in the ring, Warren confirmed the boxer would fight in Northern Ireland in August, although he could not yet name his next opponent - he did not rule out a clash with Tony Bellew.

Warren said: "On the 18th of August at Windsor Park in Belfast. That's where he'll be. As he said from the beginning, it's a process. It's about him getting the rust out of the system.

"As you can see he's still got a bit of weight to lose, you can see he needs the rounds and we just have to step up the opponents each time. The name of the game now is to find an opponent.

"I'm very disappointed that Seferi retired in the corner, as everybody is. We keep moving onward and keep moving forwards and the objective is to get him into contention to fight for the world title as soon as possible.

"Tony Bellew absolutely, we'd go for that before the end of the year - not a problem.

"The name of the game is to get the fights in, then by the end of the year be in a position for a big, big fight."

Fury's return left a lot to be desired from the former world champion (Getty)

Meanwhile, Terry Flanagan failed in his attempt to emulate his hero Ricky Hatton and become a two-weight world champion on the undercard.

Flanagan suffered a split decision defeat to American Maurice Hooker for the vacant WBO super-lightweight title, with two judges favouring Hooker 117-111 and 115-113, and the third going for Flanagan 117-111.

PA