The world may have been caught off guard by Tyson Fury’s bombshell announcement earlier this week, but there was one person who couldn’t wait for the news to drop.
By his own admission, Arslanbek Makhmudov struggled to sit on what is by far the biggest development of his nine-year pro career. The hard-hitting, 36-year-old Russian heavyweight was tabbed as the comeback opponent of choice for England’s Fury, 34-2-1 (23 KOs), with an April 11 date reserved for their anticipated affair.
The fact that Fury has ended his latest retirement was hardly a shock to anyone in the sport. His choice of Makhmudov, 21-2 (19 KOs), was a unique twist to most but a sigh of relief to the resurgent heavyweight contender.
“At the end of the last year, we already started to speak about this fight,” Makhmudov told BoxingScene during a recent virtual media meet. “It became clear that a big fight was going to happen, but I had to keep quiet.
“So all of my free time has been spent thinking about this fight and no other. After this fight, we will think about the rest of the year.”
An exact location has not yet been revealed for the clash, other than that it will take place somewhere in the United Kingdom.
Makhmudov posted his most notable win in years in his latest ring appearance, a lopsided unanimous decision win over Dave Allen last October 11 in Sheffield, England. It was just his third career fight outside of North America, as he primarily fights in Canada under the Eye of the Tiger Management (EOTTM) promotional banner.
Makhmudov’s two prior trips abroad came in back-to-back fights in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The first was in October 2023, on the undercard of Fury’s major scare in a narrow win over Francis Ngannou. For his part, Makhmudov had a much easier night at the office with a 70-second blitzing of Junior Wright.
Two months later, disaster struck as Makhmudov suffered his first career defeat. He was ahead through three rounds versus Agit Kabayel before he was floored three times and knocked out in the fourth round of their December 2023 battle of unbeaten heavyweights. Two fights later, Makhmudov was stopped in the eighth round by Italy’s Guido Vianello.
Makhmudov has since won his past two starts, beginning with a first-round knockout of unbeaten but untested Ricardo Brown last June 27 in Quebec City. The feat was followed by his abovementioned victory over Allen, a fight for which he was brought in as a high-profile name but not given much of a chance to prevail.
It goes without saying that Fury and his handlers have taken the same approach in tabbing Makhmudov for the former heavyweight champion’s first fight in 16 months.
Fury has not fought since his repeat defeat to Oleksandr Usyk, 24-0 (15 KOs), in their December 2024 unified championship rematch. Furthermore, it has been more than three years since Fury has truly looked like the best heavyweight in the world. His third win over Derek Chisora, in December 2022, was followed by the near-disastrous turn with Ngannou and two straight defeats against Usyk.
The rematch with Usyk came more than six years into Fury’s previous comeback, when he returned to the sport in 2018 following a 31-month hiatus. His first fight back was a soft touch in Sefer Seferi, whom Fury stopped in four rounds. It was followed by a 10-round shutout of Francesco Pianeta less than three months later, before he entered the first real test of his return, the first of three fights with then-unbeaten WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder.
It remains to be seen what the expectations are for the latest comeback for Fury, at age 37, and with his best days well in the rearview mirror.
Whatever the case, Makhmudov has no intention of that game plan ever seeing the light of day.
“I go after this not just a check. I go for a real reward,” vowed Makhmudov. “I am going for a win. I sacrificed a lot to get here when I left Russia.
“After I beat David Allen, I wanted to go after a fight like this. I’m 36, I’m no spring chicken. I wanted to go for a title fight or against one of the top guys. My goal is to still be the champion of the world, and I didn’t want to wait by not fighting someone like this to get that.”
