Former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury says he’s “still got it” as he pledged to focus on the task at hand in his latest return to the ring.
Following a 15-month absence, 37-year-old Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) is up against 36-year-old Russian-born heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KOs) in a bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
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The pair spoke during a pre-fight news conference in London on Thursday, hours after the chief executive of Croke Park said the 80,000-capacity Dublin venue wanted to stage the long-awaited Battle of Britain super-fight between Fury and fellow former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Fury and Joshua have almost fought on several occasions, only for contract disputes, fitness issues and losses elsewhere to derail previous attempts to get them into the same ring.
Their camps had reportedly been close to an agreement before Joshua decided to take time out from boxing following a car crash which led to the deaths of two close friends in December.
The 36-year-old Joshua is now back in training and was at Derek Chisora’s defeat by Deontay Wilder last Saturday.
Fury insisted on Thursday: “I don’t want to mention names when I’ve got a dangerous fighter in front of me. The rest can get a hiding but I need to give Makhmudov a hiding first.”
He added: “Like I said when Daniel Dubois was fighting Anthony Joshua [in 2024], everybody said and all the boxing brains said, ‘AJ will knock him out inside three rounds,’ and they were overlooking him. ‘Are you going to fight Tyson next?’
“And I said you better put some respect on Dubois’ name because he’s going to chin him and that’s what happened. So, I won’t fall down that same hurdle and trap.”
Nevertheless, he did hint at future plans for 2026 when he spoke on Ring’s YouTube channel later on Thursday.
“As far as I am concerned, I will focus on this big Russian fella, then Anthony Joshua and maybe a third fight [with Oleksandr Usyk],” Fury said.
‘Bored of the normal life’
Fury retired after his second successive loss to world champion Usyk at the end of 2024 and went a year without a fight before revealing his latest comeback on January 4.
“People always question retirement for me,” said Fury, who on Thursday reiterated the inspiration for this return was the death of Joshua’s friends because “you have got to live every day like it is your last”.
He added: “I’ve retired five times before and meant it wholeheartedly. I’ve come back four times successfully and we’ll see if it’s five.
“Make no mistake when I retire I have zero intention of returning but I miss the game. However, after a few months I am bored of the normal life. Dropping the kids off at school, taking the dogs for a walk, that kind of stuff. I miss everything that comes with big fights.”
John Fury, Tyson’s father and long a familiar figure in the corner as his son rose through the boxing ranks, said last month that a trio of gruelling fights against Deontay Wilder meant the ‘Gypsy King’ is “past his best”.
“Tyson has been gone since the Deontay Wilder fights, they finished him … Makhmudov is a problem for Tyson, said John Fury.
But Tyson said on Thursday: “I’ve never lost my speed of reactions. I’ve still got it. 100 percent.”
Makhmudov says wrestling a bear once was ‘enough’
The Russian-born fighter, meanwhile, played down suggestions that Fury, “a great boxer”, would be hampered by a recent lack of competitive ring time.
“It’s not a problem for him because of his experience,” said Makhmudov, who briefly grabbed Fury in a playful bear hug.
“Maybe it’s the opposite because he can recover from hard fights in the past.”
Makhmudov has created some buzz ahead of the fight by posting a video that showed him wrestling a 2.9m (9 feet 8 inch), 419kg bear in woods outside of Moscow nearly two years ago – an encounter he says taught him to confront fear.
“It was very terrible. Not just scary, but really crazy terrible,” Makhmudov told the Press Association this week.
“Since I was a kid I have liked a challenge, that’s why I did that just to test myself to see how I would feel in that crazy situation.
“You only understand its strength when you’re close to it. In one second you can become like meat, just meat, just like that.
“It’s not comparable with human stuff. It’s like a natural disaster, I cannot explain it, it’s crazy.
“It is good preparation for boxing because you have to control your emotions and your fear. You have to beat your fear, beat your phobias. For that it was good, but one time is enough!”
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