Tyson Fury made his professional debut more than 18 years ago, 10 have passed since he conquered Wladmir Klitschko, it’s been six since he squished Deontay Wilder in their rematch, and one must go back to the end of 2022 for the last time he convincingly won a fight. But the appetite clearly remains for the 37-year-old ahead of his latest comeback against Arslanbek Makhmudov which is locked in for April 11, at London, England’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

At today’s press conference, at the fight venue, Fury was in vibrant form.  

Flanked by his promoter Frank Warren and manager Spencer Brown, the sun-kissed Fury – who’s been training out in Thailand – sported a turquoise Netflix tie in a nod to his latest broadcasting partner while glugging a can of Furocity, his very own energy drink. “Tyson’s the biggest personality I’ve ever known in all of my years promoting,” said Warren, a Hall of Famer who’s been in the sport since 1980. “I’ve known him since he was a young man, and this is the healthiest I’ve ever seen him.”

Fury, 34-2-1 (24 KOs), did indeed look well. “When I’m in Thailand and it’s 30 degrees outside,” he said, “I think, ‘this awesome, I want to go training.’ The sun is the key. It makes me happy and I want to be happy.”

Today he promised that he will not have a head coach. "I will train alone," he claimed. "What I don't know about my body at my age, I'll never know."

He hasn’t fought since losing two bouts to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, a compelling series that followed a drab and somewhat fortunate points win over Francis Ngannou the year before. 

“Why did I come back? Very interesting question with only one answer,” Fury said. “I came back for one reason: To make boxing great again. Since I retired for the fifth time, boxing has become very boring. Boxing is better with Tyson Fury in it. Like Donald Trump wants to make America great again, I want to make boxing great again.

“I was enjoying being retired. I made a TV series for Netflix, a documentary, I travelled the world but there comes a point when you have to go back to work. And my work is boxing.”

He then scoffed at those who suggest that, logically, he must be past his best given his advanced age and long career. “Age is what it is,” he said after identifying old-timers like Archie Moore and Roberto Duran who fought into their late 40s and beyond. “If I was on a decline, I’d see it, I’d admit it. I feel like I’m still in my peak. I feel rejuvenated… I am really looking forward to getting back in the ring. I have been brutalising myself over the last eight weeks and there’s another eight weeks to go, I’ll be in incredible shape.”

Predictably, Makhmudov – three-and-a-half inches shorter than the 6ft 9ins Fury and only a year younger – is being depicted as the most dangerous comeback opponent boxing has seen since Marvin Hagler welcomed Sugar Ray Leonard out of retirement in 1987. Truth is, however, the Russian’s best professional victory is a hard-fought 12-round decision over Dave Allen last year; the stoppage losses he suffered at the hands of Agit Kabayel and Guido Vianello should be more revealing.

This is something that Fury himself acknowledged to a degree when he described going from fighting Allen to fighting Fury as “like swimming in a garden pond and then swimming across the Atlantic in bad weather.”

Regardless, Makhmudov was described by others selling the fight as “terrifying”, “a big banger”, and “a man who carries frightening power in both hands”. We also heard, more than once, that Makhmudov can "shock the world.” By the time the fight comes along, however, we’ll have been told so many times what a lethal assassin he is, it really shouldn’t come as any shock at all. 

“It’s a dream fight,” said Makhmudov. “All my life, my parents, my uncle told me when I was nine years old that I would be champion of the world. This is my goal, and I will reach my goal on April 11.

“[Fury] is a legend, he’s a big name in boxing, but I am here to make my legacy, make my story… I am going to beat this guy. I don’t know what will happen in the fight, we will prepare for all distances.”

Fury was more willing to be drawn on a prediction. 

“Truth of the matter is, if I fight a pudding, I don’t get turned on by that,” he said. “But now I know I am fighting a dangerous giant I am switched on. I can’t wait to punch his face in. I am going make his face look like a butcher’s block after four rounds… He’s going to realise how much of a legend I really am."

And how will the fight end?

“A big right hand, KO, round six.”