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nick parkinson
multiple authors
LONDON – Tyson Fury shook off some ring rust on his return to form with a unanimous points victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday and potentially set up a long-awaited clash with Anthony Joshua.
The former world heavyweight champion ended his latest retirement and 16-month break by dominating Russian Makhmudov by earning scores of 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Fury’s British rival Joshua watching from ringside amid a crowd of around 60,000.
The 37-year-old Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs), from the Isle of Man, boxed patiently behind his jab for an efficient return rather than a spectacular one, showing he still has a sharp boxing mind and good footwork. Makhmudov (21-3, 19 KOs) was a formidable opponent as he moved recklessly at times and invited Fury to knock him down.
It was a return to winning ways for Fury after losing his previous two bouts to Oleksandr Usyk on consecutive points in world title matches.
Following his first win in England since his WBC title defense against Dereck Chisora in December 2022, Fury turned his attention to Joshua. Fury is urging his compatriot to fight him instead of former WBC champion Deontay Wilder, 40, who recently defeated fellow veteran Chisora on points.
Speaking to Joshua, who was filming the fight on his cellphone after the win, Fury said: “Next time I want to give you the fight you’ve all been waiting for. I want you, Anthony Joshua, let’s give the fight fans what they want, the Battle of Britain. I, the Gypsy King, challenge you, Anthony Joshua, to fight me next time. Do you accept the challenge? Away from me this time. Don’t run, let’s dance.”
Joshua did not accept Fury’s invitation to join him in the ring and said there was no agreement between them to fight.
“There’s a conversation you go through. I’ve sat at this table with him many times,” Joshua said on Netflix.
“I’m not going to sit here and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll fight him.’ I’m not here to dominate. I have come here to fight. Contracts will be sent. We’ll go through the details and more than likely you’ll see us in the ring next time. But I’m not here to get in the ring and start yelling in someone’s face.”
Despite Joshua refusing to confirm the fight, Netflix posted on social media that it would take place this autumn.
If former world champion Joshua, 36, decides against an interim, warm-up bout, the 80,000-seat Croke Park stadium in Dublin has emerged as an option to stage the megafight in September.
There have been several attempts to make a Fury vs. Joshua match over the past six years, but without success and discussions were recently put on hold after Joshua was involved in a car accident that killed two of his friends in Nigeria in December. Although it arguably wouldn’t be as big as when they were both world champions and first agreed to fight in June 2020, it would still be the biggest fight of 2026.
Joshua, who is currently training with his former champ Usyk, wants a warmup fight before facing Fury this summer, which would push their fight to late 2026.
Prior to his knockout victory over YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in December, Joshua had suffered a fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois for a shot at the IBF world heavyweight title in September 2024. His last win over a recognized heavyweight contender (barring Paul or former UFC champion Francis Ngannou) was against Otto Wallin in December 2023.
If this was Fury’s last fight before Joshua, he showed that his jab and footwork are as classy as ever, although Makhmudov was able to land some big right hands. Fury, who had two reigns as world champion (2015, 2020-24), entered the ring wearing the sky blue robes of former world welterweight and junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, who died in September last year at the age of 46.
Fury faced an aggressive start from Makhmudov, who came forward and threw wild punches, some of which landed. Fury landed a good series of punches early in round 2, but Makhmudov soon moved forward again, trying to disrupt his rhythm.
Fury, who had Sugarhill stewards say he had trained himself in Thailand for the past four months, landed some good counter strikes late in round 2 as Makhmudov missed another big right hand that ensured he would win the round.
The 36-year-old Makhmudov, who lives in Montreal, had suffered two stoppage defeats in his last five fights before facing Fury, and he left himself open after missing some of his right hands.
Fury found more opening in round 3 but was caught by a heavy left hook early in the fourth which encouraged Makhmudov into attack mode. Fury later caught the Russian with some counter punches in round 4 and established control behind his jab in round 5.
Fury’s jab and footwork subdued Makhmudov somewhat by the halfway point, as he landed a flurry of unanswered jabs in round 6. However, Makhmudov remained a threat, and he landed two big right hands in round 7. Fury stunned Makhmudov with a sweet left hook in round 8 and a left uppercut in round 9.
Fury landed some excellent left uppercuts in round 11 and repeated jabs late in round 12, but they did not have enough power to hurt his opponent and require a judges’ decision.
