Tyson Fury produced a re-entry performance in victory over Arslanbek Makhmudov.
There was little reason to expect a championship-calibre performance from him. He’s not the same Fury; he’s older, and was fighting off the back of a 16-month lay-off.
But he got 12 rounds in against a decent opponent. Some ring-rust had to be shaken off. The criticism he’s since received isn’t merited.
Fury isn’t necessarily a huge puncher. He could have pushed more for a knockout, but if he’d done so while rusty he might have, for example, suffered a cut. A lot of fighters in his position would recognise they won’t get their opponent out of there easily and prioritise going rounds and getting rid of the ring-rust. After that sort of lay-off it’s difficult to be as sharp as he’d want to be, and to rely on the stamina that’s usually such a strength.
He looked more and more comfortable as the fight progressed. Returning fighters get into a rhythm and their bodies warm up – it’s just that when they’re older they can take longer to do so. Overall, he warmed into the fight and did what he was supposed to do.
It’s premature to try to evaluate how much he might have declined since his two fights with Oleksandr Usyk. There was little reason to expect the Fury of his prime – the same version who once beat Wladimir Klitschko. Decline may be inevitable for every fighter, but even a somewhat declined Fury can still be an entertaining feature of the heavyweight landscape. There are still fights his audience want to see him take.
He paid tribute to the late Ricky Hatton during his ring walk, which would have been emotional for him – Hatton was a friend, not just a colleague. Maybe that affected his focus. Maybe it motivated him. Only he’ll truly know.
We knew that suggestions he was training himself for Makhmudov weren’t true, but since the fights with Usyk there had been talk of him replacing SugarHill Steward, and it strikes me as the right move that they’re still together. They’ve had a lot of success; there’s continuity not just between them, but following on from the time Fury worked under Emanuel Steward. Keeping the same trainer makes it easier for him to warm back into the sport; it’s also a bit late for him to reinvent himself, so it’s better that he has a familiar voice in his corner instead.
His longest-term rival, Anthony Joshua, is in a really good position. If he wanted he could fight Deontay Wilder or Fury next. I don’t think he’s going to rush to share his intentions with everyone – I expect him to let them chase him. Wilder, being a puncher, would represent a risk as a tune-up for Fury, but I can actually see Joshua fighting Wilder first, and then Fury.
Conor Benn was again unimpressive in victory over Regis Prograis. He, increasingly, looks the son of a legend struggling to live up to the hype.
Nigel Benn was one of the funnest fighters, and a champion, in a great era of boxing. But Conor’s a fighter feeding off his scraps – so much so that it’s easy to understand those questioning the decline in his performances since he twice tested positive for clomifene.
Benn, in 2026, cannot punch with power at all, no matter how much he loads up. He even tries to load up his jabs. But he can’t get any power on anything.
I’m not suggesting he’s a terrible fighter. He’s good for boxing, and he’s entertaining. But he’s limited, so it’s risking making him look ridiculous when he’s being pushed the way that he is and performing badly.
The fight with Prograis was set up for him to get a stoppage, because of how long it had been. Prograis is a former world champion so, on paper at least, a stoppage would have looked good, but he looked bad in the process of trying to secure it. His matchmaking needs to be seriously considered.
Other big names at welterweight and junior welterweight would willingly fight him because he represents low-hanging fruit and brings so much money to the table. Most in the top 20 of those weight classes would beat him, and yet he’s earning more than them.
It’s not unthinkable that he’ll struggle to get back down to welterweight. Part of the problem is that the welterweight division’s becoming more dangerous; there’s a risk of him getting hurt. There’s talk of him fighting Ryan Garcia – if he does, Garcia would be the favourite to win. Delante “Tiger” Johnson, who isn’t yet a champion, would beat Benn easily.
Prograis, who announced his retirement, had a good career, and if that was his last fight it’s not a bad one for him to have bowed out on. At his best he was an entertaining, championship-level fighter; he was particularly entertaining during the World Boxing Super Series, up to and including his defeat by Josh Taylor. The question is not about how good he was, the question is whether he’ll stay retired.
