BoxRec

Is Fury gonna fight a tune up or anything or is he going to get a 2nd World TItle shot in a row having not won a fight in over 2 years?

I would imagine it's gonna be the latter, just wondering.

I think Fury Vs Makhmudov and Wardley Vs Chisora are more likely. Not sure what happens after those, it might depend on whether Joshua is going to push for the Fury fight later in the year (and also who wins the fights mentioned).

Was fury getting drug tested while retired?

‘I beat everybody with a fat belly’: Tyson Fury responds to comments about his condition ahead of comeback

Tyson Fury isn’t concerned about being “out of shape” ahead of his comeback.

Tyson Fury has proven many times in his career that you can’t always judge a book by its cover or a heavyweight boxer by their belly, and he’s brushing off criticisms that he’s out of shape ahead of a planned comeback fight.

“Read a few comments (that said) I’m looking a bit hench — chubby, fat. Welcome to my world,” he said in a video released to social media. “Never been any different. I beat everybody with a fat belly, never been any different, never made any odds before. Why should it make any odds today?

“I weigh about 20 stone [280 lbs] at the moment. Probably get down to around about under 19 [266 lbs], maybe, for the comeback. Nice and loose and fast. Really looking forward to it. I’ve been away for a while, but I’m back now. I’ve had a year out, and if I box in the first quarter [of 2026], it’ll be up to 16 months out of the ring. It’s a long time for a 37-year-old, 38 this year. We’ll see if I’ve still got it.”

Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO) doesn’t have an exact date yet, or at least one hasn’t been publicly announced, but the former champion will return as a big star in the division and in the sport no matter what he does.

Fury’s weight history
We’ve certainly seen Fury take longer layoffs and come back looking, visually, in worse shape than he does right now. After he beat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, he didn’t fight again for two-and-a-half years, and was 29 lbs heavier than he had been in the Klitschko fight, which to be fair was also an abnormally low weight for Fury even then.

Fury was the heaviest he’s been in his pro career in his last bout, officially tipping the scales at 281 lbs for his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024, which was 19 lbs heavier than he’d weighed for their first fight seven months prior. If Fury is aiming to weigh around 265 for his return, that would be right about what he was at when he faced Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora in 2022, and just above his weight for the first Usyk fight.

There was really just a single notable fight where Fury’s condition seemed to genuinely, negatively impact his performance, and that came in his bizarre 2023 fight with Francis Ngannou. Fury weighed in just under 278 lbs for that fight and never truly looked like himself. He looked out of shape and like he hadn’t taken training seriously, and the latter was probably the bigger issue, because at 281 for the Usyk fight, he did lose, but he fought quite well, and he did very well in his wins over Deontay Wilder in 2020-21, coming in at 273 and 277, respectively.

gregregegg wrote: ↑11 Jan 2026, 22:54 Was fury getting drug tested while retired?

Nope.

Fury seems to forget how old he is, you cannot have the level of inactivity he has, blow up in weight between fights, and expect to keep coming back sharp.

At some point, you come back, and the well has run dry, at 37 and with his lifestyle, that may have already happened.

I think his punch resistance has already started to wane, and his stamina and powers of recovery will go next.

Whilst not particularly explosive physically, and not that strong for his size by any stretch, Fury has always had above average stamina for a heavyweight.

jamesmcdonnell wrote: ↑12 Jan 2026, 14:35 Fury seems to forget how old he is, you cannot have the level of inactivity he has, blow up in weight between fights, and expect to keep coming back sharp.

At some point, you come back, and the well has run dry, at 37 and with his lifestyle, that may have already happened.

I think his punch resistance has already started to wane, and his stamina and powers of recovery will go next.

Whilst not particularly explosive physically, and not that strong for his size by any stretch, Fury has always had above average stamina for a heavyweight.

Plus it's also easier to imagine a man as large as him losing his legs quicker than a smaller guy would. Just for the amount of weight they have to lug around, and movement has always been a pretty large part of his game.

jamesmcdonnell wrote: ↑12 Jan 2026, 14:35 Fury seems to forget how old he is, you cannot have the level of inactivity he has, blow up in weight between fights, and expect to keep coming back sharp.

At some point, you come back, and the well has run dry, at 37 and with his lifestyle, that may have already happened.

I think his punch resistance has already started to wane, and his stamina and powers of recovery will go next.

Whilst not particularly explosive physically, and not that strong for his size by any stretch, Fury has always had above average stamina for a heavyweight.

Do you think all the cycling while he's not being tested will help?

keithmoonhangover wrote: ↑12 Jan 2026, 17:14

jamesmcdonnell wrote: ↑12 Jan 2026, 14:35 Fury seems to forget how old he is, you cannot have the level of inactivity he has, blow up in weight between fights, and expect to keep coming back sharp.

At some point, you come back, and the well has run dry, at 37 and with his lifestyle, that may have already happened.

I think his punch resistance has already started to wane, and his stamina and powers of recovery will go next.

Whilst not particularly explosive physically, and not that strong for his size by any stretch, Fury has always had above average stamina for a heavyweight.

Do you think all the cycling while he's not being tested will help?

Well no idea what he is or isnt doing, but i do know it wont turn back time.

jamesmcdonnell wrote: ↑12 Jan 2026, 14:35 Fury seems to forget how old he is, you cannot have the level of inactivity he has, blow up in weight between fights, and expect to keep coming back sharp.

At some point, you come back, and the well has run dry, at 37 and with his lifestyle, that may have already happened.

I think his punch resistance has already started to wane, and his stamina and powers of recovery will go next.

Whilst not particularly explosive physically, and not that strong for his size by any stretch, Fury has always had above average stamina for a heavyweight.

He gets away with it because he has always been good enough to control the pace.
While he was winning the first Uysk fight, he was forced to work at a pace he wasn't comfortable with, and fell apart a bit, despite showing huge balls and resilience to get through it.

Yes, Usyk was too technically good for Fury to fiddlarse his way through the pressure, not many, almost none are.

But Fury is 37 and has bad habits between fights.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 05:39

Brandon Moore, Heavyweight contender. Who????

Never heard of him. But shouldn’t Fury be offering him a fight, not Moore offering Fury one lol

Controversial wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 07:01 Never heard of him. But shouldn’t Fury be offering him a fight, not Moore offering Fury one lol

It's probably Salita trying to use his name for attention. Fury is never fighting Moore on a Salita card

Controversial wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 07:01 Never heard of him. But shouldn’t Fury be offering him a fight, not Moore offering Fury one lol

One of Salita's guys.

Yh, that's exactly Mike's point.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 07:08

Controversial wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 07:01 Never heard of him. But shouldn’t Fury be offering him a fight, not Moore offering Fury one lol

One of Salita's guys.

Yh, that's exactly Mike's point.

Ah yeah just spotted his comment, I was just looking at the sky sports article

He wants a fight in April.

Arslanbek Makhmudov Is one of the top 3 options. No others have been named though.

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑20 Jan 2026, 12:40 He wants a fight in April.

Arslanbek Makhmudov Is one of the top 3 options. No others have been named though.

That would be an awful watch especially if Fury is not fit

tony1234 wrote: ↑20 Jan 2026, 13:04

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑20 Jan 2026, 12:40 He wants a fight in April.

Arslanbek Makhmudov Is one of the top 3 options. No others have been named though.

That would be an awful watch especially if Fury is not fit

I think it would make Fury look good, he is a big guy, not with great output, bit one paved,and can be outboxed, on form Fury could make it look like a masterclass.

I'm calling it now.

Makhmudov beats Fury & Wilder beats Usyk

joshj909 wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 06:37

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 05:39

Brandon Moore, Heavyweight contender. Who????

I picture Fury picking someone at about that level for his comeback opponent

tiny_acres wrote: ↑20 Jan 2026, 17:46

joshj909 wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 06:37

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑13 Jan 2026, 05:39

Brandon Moore, Heavyweight contender. Who????

I picture Fury picking someone at about that level for his comeback opponent

He seems a much lower level than Makhmudov, who's being discussed. Makhmudov is probably around the level of Wallin, whereas, Moore is probably more like Tom Schwarz.

If Fury's going for an easy-to-beat unknown with a padded record I think there are better ones than Moore. Realistically, these are the best that fit that category, some of them are better than Moore: Hysa, Camkiran, Ljungquist, Xhoxhaj, Prenga, Milas, Pero, Shaw, Ahio, Knyba, Suslenkov, Aliev, Meyna, Kyakonye, Vykhryst, Larduet, Kadiru, Dychko, Zakhozhyi, Dacres, Barriere and Shaka.

If he wants a somewhat recognisable opponent for fans who has proven to be below the level needed to be a big threat but might possess a small threat like Makhmudov, then his opponent could be Gassiev, Bakole, Anderson, Yoka, Vianello, Pulev or Lerena.