Arslanbek Makhmudov shouldn’t be much of a test but Gypsy King and his battered old rivals are fading away
“I
’ll make this short and sweet,” Tyson Fury said in a brief video he posted online on 13 January 2025. “I’d like to announce my retirement from boxing. It’s been a blast and I’ve loved every single minute of it. I’m going to end with this: Dick Turpin wore a mask. God bless everybody. I’ll see you on the other side.”
It was the fifth time Fury had retired from boxing in a professional career that began in December 2008 when he made his debut in Nottingham. So there was little surprise when, less than a year since that latest attempt to walk away from boxing, Fury announced his inevitable return. Four months ago he released a typical Fury message as he hollered: “Return of the Mac. Been away for a while but I’m back now. 37 years old and still punching. Nothing better to do than punch men in the face & get paid for it.”
So here we are, back watching Fury prepare to climb through the ropes to fight Arslanbek Makhmudov, the giant Russian from Dagestan, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday night. Fury’s return was almost numbingly predictable – as were his reasons for making yet another comeback.
