Tyson Fury dominated Arslanbek Makhmudov to set up a long-awaited Battle of Britain against Anthony Joshua.
"The Gypsy King" ended his 16-month retirement with this lopsided unanimous decision against his Russian visitor at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the main event of Netflix’s first ever live boxing broadcast on British soil.
Judges Kieran McCann and Lee Every both scored it a 120-108 shut-out but Reece Carter gave Makhmudov one of the rounds with a 119-109 scorecard.
Despite the dominance on the cards, this was not quite vintage Fury but there were glimpses of the heavyweight who has won two world titles over the course of his 18-year career.
He nullified some early Makhmudov pressure before assuming complete control of the fight, as "AJ" watched on from ringside, filming the entire thing on his phone.
Fury had ignored advice from many of his loved ones, including father John and wife Paris, who both implored the 37-year-old to stay retired. He will argue that, on this evidence, he still has plenty to offer the division.
First, that looks likely to be a late-summer showdown with Joshua. There is still work to be done on the small print of the contract but the headline is simple: 2026 will be the year that Fury and Joshua finally fight.
Fury said: “I wanted to get Arslanbek Makhmudov out of the way but next I want to give you the fight you’ve all been waiting for. I want you, AJ, Anthony Joshua. Let’s give the fight fans what they want - the Battle of Britain.
“It has been 10 years in the making, let’s dance.”
Then, after addressing Joshua, the 6ft 9in heavyweight launched into a rendition of ‘There’s Only One Ricky Hatton”.
Despite his allegiance to Manchester United Fury was decked out in the sky blue of City in homage to his great friend Ricky Hatton. Fury had known the Hitman nearly his whole life, the Hitman had also been an integral part of his team in recent years. Fury was front and centre at his funeral in Manchester on October 10.
Given Fury’s retirement, this was first outing since that day and he was insistent on marking the occasion in his own way. With ‘Hitman’ written on his robe and "RIP Ricky" on his shorts, an emotional Fury began his ring walk to Hatton’s famous song, "Blue Moon."
Once he had emerged onto stage, there was a full firework and pyrotechnic show as the packed out crowd inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium greeted Fury back for his first outing on British soil for 30 months. That had taken place in this very stadium when he successfully defended his WBC heavyweight crown against Derek Chisora.
That belt is long gone now, taken by Oleksandr Usyk in the first of their fights in May 2024 and then defended in their rematch seven months later. Those two defeats had send Fury into retirement for the fifth time and, at that point, he insisted he would never be back.
Now, 16 months on, all those who rubbished that suggestion were vindicated. “I missed the circus,” he said this week.
Makhmudov, meanwhile, was in no mood to play up to his role as sideshow. Dressed in a plain cotton hoodie, he did not even bother with a ring walk song, instead choosing to make his way through the crowd to the sound of an air-raid siren.
With 10 seconds he had launched his first right hand, and it wasn’t far off. Next it was a left hook from the Russian but fury, in southpaw, moved backwards to evade it. The pattern of the first round continued as such, with Makhmudov moving forward, jabbing to Fury’s chest and then attempting to land with an overhand right. Another one whistled past Fury’s chin with 30 seconds left of what was an encouraging first round for the visitor.
The second started in much the same manner but Fury was having more success catching Makhmudov on the way in. But, by the end of the round, the Gypsy King was the one holding centre ring and leading the attacks. Makhmudov sucked in air heavily as the bell rang.
After back-to-back chess matches with Usyk, this was developing into a shootout more akin to Fury’s trilogy with Wilder. Fury, knocked down in two of those three fights, forged his reputation for toughness against Wilder and he was showing the same signs here.
Fury landed with a right hand as the fourth round began but Makhmudov responded immediately with a left hook. By now the Russian seemed to be bothered by a nose injury and looked tired as Fury started to pick him apart with the jab.
After such early impetus, the father-of-three from Dagestan looked short on ideas and his pace has slowed completely. What’s more, Fury seemed to have the measure of him and was even dominating on the inside against a man who famously once wrestled a bear.
A week after he was slammed by Deontay Wilder for his role in the fight against Derek Chisora across town at the O2, referee Mark Bates was back in charge. This time, he handled the two big men well in their regular clinches.
Makhmudov, an architect of 17 knockouts inside the first three rounds, was fading quickly and Fury, switching between stances, was starting to put on a clinic. Even Joshua was filming the fight but his camera would have captured Makhmudov reminding Fury of his power midway through the seventh.
Even so, Fury began to turn the screw in the seventh, despite shipping a right hand. He drew cheers from the crowd as he crashed home a check left hook and then turned Makhmudov on the ropes and landed with at the right. Then, in the ninth, a left uppercut from Fury knocked his opponent’s gum shield out. It was out again in the 10th as the third Makhmudov began to unravel.
None of his 19 career stoppages had come any later than the seventh round and any hope of finding one by the 10th looked to have been completely extinguished by Fury. With the fight in the bag, he began to turn the screw in the 12th, although many of the fans had started to leave by then. They knew, as did Fury, the job was done and the circus was back.
Now it will crank into overdrive as Fury and Joshua approach a real fight 16 years after they sparred back at Finchley Amateur Boxing Club.
CompuBox stats: Fury dominated from start to finish, averaging 17 landed punches per round to Makhmudov's 5 — who never landed more than 8 in any single round. Fury connected on 46% of his power punches, 60% of which targeted the body, while Makhmudov managed just 22%. The judges were unanimous: 120-108 twice and 119-109, all for Fury.
