The heavyweight from Dagestan now lives in Canada and describes Saturday’s opponent as the ‘professor’ of boxing
“T
his guy is the professor,” Arslanbek Makhmudov says of Tyson Fury as he looks ahead politely to their fight on Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. There is none of the usual bluster and malice of heavyweight boxing as the huge Russian from Dagestan shows considerable respect for the former world champion who is making yet another comeback to the ring.
“Tyson Fury is the professor of mind and boxing,” Makhmudov continues in his functional but effective English “A lot of boxing is mental and he is a master. But boxing is also spiritual. I am going to be strong, spiritual and smart. You can say this is a war between mental and spiritual and we’ll see who is more successful. Inshallah it is spiritual.”
The 6ft 5½in Makhmudov, who is expected to weigh in at around 270lbs against Fury, will also bring real physicality and power to the ring. Nineteen of his 21 victories have ended in a stoppage and he can clearly hit hard enough to test Fury who, for all his resilience and toughness, has been knocked down seven times in his professional career. Fury always gets up but he has not been quite the same fighter since Deontay Wilder knocked him down four times in two savage bouts.
