Former world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury returns to the ring on Apr. 26 when he takes on Arslanbek Makhmudov in Britain atop a fight card Netflix airs worldwide.
It brings to an end a short-lived retirement that few truly believed would stick, as Fury claimed he’d walked away from the sport for good, following back-to-back defeats to Oleksandr Usyk, despite other big bouts out there for him, including a chance to settle the score with career-long rival Anthony Joshua.
But he put all that in the rear-view mirror, announcing recently that he will not only fight Makhmudov in a comeback, but seek the biggest bouts out there if and when he defeats the Canada-based Russian with 23 pro bouts to his name.
“Excited to be back,” Fury said in a statement sent to Boxing Social at the time. “Heart’s always been and always will be in boxing. Someone go tell the king that the ace is back!”
Fury has posted snippets of his training across various social media platforms, looking in good shape, and taking a “fun element” to his camp. “I am one happy son of a gun right now,” he said.
“A happy fighter is a dangerous fighter — and I haven’t been this happy for a very long time.”
He added: “Everyone [in my path] is getting it.”
Fury, in a separate post, said he’s already been sparring 15 rounds per session, and is feeling “unbelievable” and “on top of the world, baby.”
He later added: “I feel absolutely sorry for anybody who has to fight me this year — you’re all in trouble. And poor old a–** sniffer Makhmudov, he’s up next. He’s the first lamb to the slaughter. I feel sorry for him. He’s getting it.”
Fury’s approach appears in stark contrast to his old rival Deontay Wilder, who returns to boxing just before Fury, fighting Dereck Chisora on Apr. 4 in London, England.
Though Wilder and Chisora appear to share a mutual respect for one another, the American puncher recently stormed out of an interview during a trans-Atlantic press tour, just because talkSPORT host Simon Jordan asked him about Fury.
Watch it right here: