Tyson Fury said he was coming out of retirement to “make boxing great again,” and insisted the sport had not been the same in his absence.
The fight between Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO) and Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KO) will take place on April 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The fight will be promoted by Ring Magazine and streamed live on Netflix.
The 37-year-old has not fought since December 2024, when he suffered his second consecutive defeat against Oleksandr Usyk.
After more than a year out of the ring and announcing his final retirement in January 2025, Fury said his return would be aimed at improving the sport.
“I only came back for one reason: to make boxing great again. Since I stopped boxing a year ago, boxing has gone downhill for me. It’s become quite tedious,” Fury said at a press conference on Monday.
“Boxing reaches its maximum potential when Tyson Fury is actively fighting. I didn’t say that, AI, GPT chat [did]. So believe it.
“I brought with me the largest streaming platform in the world, Netflix. I fought first, fighting in a 60,000-seat stadium. I bring circus to sports, entertainment, action, cameras, everything. I enjoyed being retired. I did the second season of At Home with the Furys, made a documentary, traveled the world with my family, several private jets, yachts… I had a good time.”
“But there comes a point where you just want to go back to work. My job will always be to fight, no matter how elderly I am.”
Fury also said he wanted to become a three-time world heavyweight champion, joining Muhammad Ali, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis as the only male boxers to do so.
The “Gypsy King” was in excellent shape at the press conference and said it was good to be back.
“I want to put on a show. I want an explosive knockout and I believe I will achieve it, on April 11, I will knock him out, spark,” Fury said.
“To go out with so much left in the tank… I always had the intention of coming back. Even though I didn’t believe it myself, when I retired over a year ago, I truly believed I would never return to boxing.
“But having a year off and experiencing life, I’ve learned that I’m so in love with boxing that it’s a part of me.”