Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov is the stuff of dreams. No really, it is. Even if fans don’t wish to believe it, and even if it is a fight no fan wanted, Fury vs. Makhmudov represents for the two heavyweights involved a dream come true.
Yesterday, when the fight was announced, Fury was quick to grab his phone, hold it to his face, and express to the world his level of excitement. It was, of course, typically over-the-top and insincere, but still we could sense that Fury was proud to have secured a deal with Netflix to show the fight with Makhmudov on April 11. That aspect, more than the fight itself, seemed to please Fury and is perhaps what has given him the motivation to continue with his career. After all, Netflix have already demonstrated how many eyeballs they can attract to boxing matches hosted on their streaming service, and Fury, 34-2-1 (24 KOs), loves nothing more than having eyeballs on him whenever he opens his mouth or closes his hand to make a fist. The only thing he likes more than eyeballs, in fact, is money.
As for Makhmudov, he too will be grateful for the exposure. He was grateful for the exposure back in October, when invited to Sheffield, England to fight Dave Allen in front of 8,000 fans, so one can only imagine how he now feels about fighting Tyson Fury on Netflix. This is, for him, recompense for a hard career fought on the periphery of the heavyweight top 20. It is also his reward for beating Allen in front of thousands of British fans and in doing so making his name easy to recognise, if not spell or pronounce.
“For me, it’s a dream fight,” the Russian, speaking to Sky Sports, said of fighting Fury on April 11. “All my life I have dreamed about this fight with him. I even have a photo of him from 10 years ago – before my professional debut – when he had just become world champion. For me, this is a big thing.”
As nice as it is for any boxer to realise their dream, the hope on fight night is that Makhmudov offers something more than just a big body for Fury to hit ahead of then fighting smaller bodies in bigger fights. In his video message yesterday, Fury alluded to having huge plans for 2026, and said he and Netflix were just getting started, which means it’s the job of Makhmudov, as his “comeback opponent”, to scupper those plans and secure a heavyweight title shot of his own. “I’m feeling good in myself,” Makhmudov said. “I have a couple of flaws but everybody has flaws. I feel great because my last couple of wins have given me confidence. We’re going for the win.”
Be that as it may, if Fury sees Netflix as his dream broadcaster, it is just as likely the Brit sees Makhmudov, 21-2 (19 KOs), as his ideal opponent. That doesn’t mean he is the opponent he always dreamed of fighting, or the man he has long been targeting, but in the context of Fury returning to the ring following a 17-month layoff, there could be no better opponent, stylistically, than someone like Arslanbek Makhmudov.
As scary as he appears, Makhmudov is, once inside the ring, rarely the stuff of nightmares. In fact, despite his size, strength, and power, the “Lion” has already twice come up short as a professional. He was stopped in four rounds by Agit Kabayel in 2023, then stopped in eight by Guido Vianello in 2024. Even October’s win over Dave Allen, as good as it was, didn’t suggest Makhmudov was a threat to the world’s fringe heavyweight contenders, much less Tyson Fury, the former champion whose photo he once held.
Then again, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? The point of this fight. The point of the exercise. The point of Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Seemingly, one man’s dream is another man’s tune-up.
