Fury dominates Makhmudov, calls out Joshua

LONDON -- Tyson Fury shook off some ring rust on his comeback to earn a unanimous points win over Arslanbek Makhmudov on Saturday and potentially set up a long-awaited clash with Anthony Joshua.

The former world heavyweight champion ended his latest retirement and 16-month break by dominating Russian Makhmudov to earn scores of 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Fury's British rival Joshua watching on from ringside among a crowd of approximately 60,000.

Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs), 37, from the Isle of Man, patiently boxed behind his jab for an efficient rather than spectacular comeback, which showed he still has a sharp boxing brain and good footwork. Makhmudov (21-3, 19 KOs) was an obliging opponent as he marched forward recklessly at times, inviting Fury to pick him off.

It was a return to winning ways for Fury following back-to-back points losses in world title fights to Oleksandr Usyk in his previous two appearances.

After his first win in England since a WBC title defense against Derek Chisora in December 2022, Fury turned his attention to Joshua. Fury is urging his compatriot to fight him next, rather than former WBC champion Deontay Wilder, 40, who recently beat fellow veteran Chisora on points.

Talking to Joshua, who had been filming the fight on his cellphone, following the victory, Fury said: "Next I want to give you the fight you have all been waiting for. I want you, Anthony Joshua, let's give the fight fans what they want, a Battle of Britain. I, the Gypsy King, challenge you, Anthony Joshua, to fight me next. Do you accept the challenge? Do not run from me this time, let's dance."

Joshua didn't accept Fury's invitation to join him in the ring and said there was no deal for them to fight.

"There's a negotiation that you go through. I've sat at this table with him many times," Joshua said on Netflix.

"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Yeah, I'll fight him.' I'm not here to get clout. I'm here to fight. Contracts will be sent over. We'll go through the nitty-gritty and you'll probably see us in the ring next, more than likely. But I'm not here to start getting in the ring and shouting in someone's face."

Despite Joshua's refusal to confirm the fight, Netflix posted on social media that it would take place this autumn.

The 80,000-seat Croke Park stadium in Dublin has emerged as an option to stage the megafight in September should former world champion Joshua, 36, decide against an interim, warmup bout.

There have been various attempts to make Fury vs. Joshua happen in the last six years without success and most recently discussions were put on hold after Joshua was involved in a car accident which killed two of his friends in Nigeria in December. While it will arguably not be as big as when they were both world champions and first agreed to fight in June 2020, it would still be the biggest fight of 2026.

Joshua, who is currently training with his former conqueror Usyk, might want a warmup fight this summer before facing Fury, which would push their fight back to late 2026.

Before his knockout win over YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in December, Joshua suffered a fifth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois for the IBF world heavyweight title in September 2024. His last win over a recognized heavyweight contender (not counting Paul or former UFC champion Francis Ngannou) was against Otto Wallin in December 2023.

If this was Fury's last fight before Joshua, he showed his jab and footwork are as classy as ever, although Makhmudov was able to land some big right hands. Fury, who had two reigns as world champion (2015, and 2020-2024), entered the ring wearing the sky blue colors of former world welterweight and junior welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, who died aged 46 in September last year.

Fury had to contend with an aggressive start from Makhmudov, who came forward throwing wild punches, some of which landed. Fury put together a nice series of punches early in Round 2, but Makhmudov was soon mauling forward again trying to disrupt his rhythm.

Fury, who had SugarHill Steward in his corner after saying he had trained himself in Thailand for the last four months, landed some good counterpunches late in Round 2 as Makhmudov missed with another big right hand to ensure he won the round.

Makhmudov, 36, who is based in Montreal, had suffered two stoppage defeats in his previous five fights before facing Fury, and he left himself wide open with some of his missed right hands.

Fury found more openings in Round 3 but was caught by a heavy left hook early in the fourth that encouraged Makhmudov into attack mode. Fury then caught the Russian with some counterpunches later in Round 4 and established control behind his jab in Round 5.

Fury's jab and footwork seemed to have somewhat subdued Makhmudov by the halfway point, as he landed a flurry of unanswered jabs in Round 6. Makhmudov remained a danger, though, and he landed two big right hands in Round 7. Fury wobbled Makhmudov with a sweet left hook in Round 8 and a left uppercut in Round 9.

Round 11 saw Fury uncork some classy left uppercuts and he repeatedly landed shots late in Round 12, but they lacked enough power to hurt his opponent and prevent the need to the judges' decision.