Tyson Fury keeps trying to quit boxing. Yet, just when he’s out, it pulls him back in. Fury insists he never meant to come back, but on April 11 his brief retirement will end when he fights Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
At the start of 2025, still smarting after his two losses to Oleksandr Usyk, Fury announced he was finished with the sport. It’s by no means the first time he has retired and reversed course, but he is adamant this return was not pre-planned.
He was travelling in Thailand at the end of last year, stepped up his training and events took on their own momentum. He’s still in Thailand, now deep in camp for a fight three weeks away. “It’s good to be back,” Fury told Sky Sports. “I only came to Thailand for a Christmas holiday with my family. I was still retired when I came here. I had no intentions of making a comeback. The sunshine brought me back.
“I was feeling so good I thought I’m just going to go into camp over here, train over here and get a fight. And that’s exactly what I did. I had zero intentions of making a comeback when I came here in December, none, I was happily retired. And then the sunshine, a bit of training and one thing led to another and next thing I’ve signed a massive contract. The next thing it’s at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the world’s going to watch it.”
The lure of fighting in front of a raucous crowd proved hard to resist. “You can’t beat it, can you? It’s been four years since I was last at Tottenham, when I was last in the UK doing a fight, four years. I’m looking forward to getting back there and soaking up some of that atmosphere. There’s nothing like a UK football stadium to get you going.”
Makhmudov is a solid opponent, particularly for a comeback, but Fury promises to be inspired. “All I can say is Makmudov’s in some serious bother,” Fury said. “He’s in trouble. Makhmudov’s in trouble. He’s a tough man, he’s had a couple of losses like myself, and he’s had a lot of knockouts, 20 odd knockouts.
“We’re similar age, similar size, similar weight, similar record. I was world champion, he was No 2 in the rankings when I was WBC champion. He was one of the fights I got offered actually. So now we’re actually doing it so here we go. Let’s throw down. May the best man win.”