Guess who’s back, back again? The former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury returns on Saturday, April 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London against Arslanbek Makhmudov, in what’s framed as the first step in a new three-fight plan. After two defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024 and yet another retirement announcement, Fury is once more asking the boxing public to believe that there is unfinished business left in his career.
Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov: Fury’s return to boxing
It is hard to think of another modern heavyweight whose career has been built so heavily on extremes. Fury has always moved between brilliance and chaos, between retirement talk and title talk, between self-mythology and undeniable achievement. Now 37, he returns with an outstanding 34-2-1 record and 24 KOs, ending a 16-month break from the ring after those back-to-back losses to Usyk. The comeback on Netflix is not being sold as a nostalgic farewell, either. Fury himself has said this Makhmudov bout is supposed to be the first of three fights in 2026.
That matters because this is not a harmless reappearance. Makhmudov is not a ceremonial opponent, the kind of name chosen purely to flatter a returning star. He is dangerous, physically imposing, and capable of making any slow start look dramatic. Fury still has the tools that made him a rare heavyweight talent: the size, the feints, the balance, the awkward rhythm, and the ability to change shape mid-fight. However, it’s difficult to tell if he still has the sharpness to use those tools under pressure.
There is also a psychological layer to all this. Fury has admitted that boxing keeps dragging him back and that retirement has never really stuck because he still feels a need for the chase. That is classic Fury: part confession, part promotion, part addiction to the spotlight. Against Makhmudov, though, he must be mobile, disciplined, and switched on. If that’s the case, the Gypsy King is back for real.
Arslanbek Makhmudov, the man who wrestled a bear
In front of Fury, there is Makhmudov, one of those heavyweights whose reputation arrives before the bell. The Dagestan-born fighter for Canada owns a 21-2 record with 19 stoppage wins and has won his last two fights, most recently against Dave Allen. On raw physical presence alone, he is the kind of opponent who can make a stadium tense just by walking to the ring. At 6ft 5½in and around the 270lb mark, he can change a fight with one punch.
The strangest detail of his career is, of course, the bear story. In a recent interview, Makhmudov recalled going to Moscow for what turned into a literal fight with a bear, something his mother reacted to with horror when she saw the video. He said it was a one-time stunt, described it as “terrible,” and made clear he has no intention of doing anything like that again. It is a bizarre anecdote, but it also fits the aura around him: this is a heavyweight who has always been marketed as a force of nature rather than a polished celebrity boxer.
Still, Makhmudov is more than a novelty story or a knockout ratio. He has shown respect to Fury, calling him a master of boxing and mind games, and that respect feels revealing. He knows Fury’s ring IQ is the thing that could neutralise his aggression. To see Makhmudov win, he needs to cut the ring, force exchanges, test Fury’s reactions, and make him work at an uncomfortable pace. If he can turn this into a physical fight early, the comeback narrative starts to wobble.
Fury’s dad unsure to attend
As with any Fury fight, there is a subplot in the build-up. This time it is about his father John Fury. Normally a loud and unavoidable part of Tyson’s orbit, he may not be there on fight night. Recent reports say Tyson is unsure whether his father will attend, with the tension linked to John’s belief that his son should have stayed retired. Fury has also suggested that his father’s criticism and silence come from wanting him out of the sport for good.
Where to watch the fight
Fury vs Makhmudov takes place on Saturday, April 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The broadcast begins at 2 p.m. Eastern Time in the US, 1 p.m. in Ontario, which is 7 p.m. BST, while the main-event ring walks are at around 10 p.m. local time.
The Netflix streaming service will be the only place available to watch the event. In the last few years, streaming platforms have stolen audiences from traditional channels in the entertainment industries. For example, online casinos have advanced heavily, being the preferred channel to play certain games instead of land-based casinos. Now, Netflix is showing its ability to stream sporting events worldwide, two decades after the American company started its on-demand streaming service for series and films.
Is this a preview of an Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury bout?
This is the question hanging over everything. Fury has said openly that, if he gets through Makhmudov, Anthony Joshua is the fight he wants next. Different commentators have stated his bout against Makhmudov is the first step in a plan that would include Joshua before the end of the year, and that’s why Saturday matters beyond the result. Fury has to look like Fury again: loose, inventive, hard to read, annoyingly clever, and physically commanding. Joshua remains one of the few available fights in Britain that can still feel truly enormous, but the public will only fully buy back into that matchup if Fury looks revived rather than merely active. Beat Makhmudov cleanly and the old dream of an all-British heavyweight blockbuster comes roaring back. Struggle badly, and the talk shifts from superfight to survival.
As a preview, Fury vs Makhmudov works on two levels. On the surface, it is a dangerous comeback against a heavyweight puncher with a strange mythology and enough power to punish complacency. Underneath, it is an audition for the next act of Fury’s career. That next act might be Joshua, it might be another title route, or it might be another reminder that comebacks become harder to sell when the miles are already showing. Saturday night should tell us which version of Tyson Fury is really walking back into the ring.
Photo credit: Top Rank Boxing
Michael is an experienced writer and editor in sports media circles. As the founder and owner of Last Word On Sports INC, a partner at Sports Heroics, he brings a wealth of experience to the ownership group at Sports & Media Investors Group, LLC, which owns NYFights.com.