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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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”.
But Tyson said on Thursday: “I’ve never lost my speed of reactions. I’ve still got it. 100 percent.” The Russian-born fighter, meanwhile, played down suggestions that Fury, “a great boxer”, would be hampered by a recent lack of competitive ring time. Not just scary, but really crazy terrible,” Makhmudov told the Press Association this week.
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