Tyson Fury insists he is not yet at his best ahead of his latest return to action against Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The two-time world heavyweight champion is fighting for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to world No. 1 Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024, which was his second consecutive points loss to the Ukrainian.

Fury’s father, John, who has participated in some of his son’s fights over the past decade since Fury first became world champion with a points victory over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, this week said Tyson’s “best days are behind him.”

However, Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO), a 37-year-old native of Morecambe, England, insists his last two fights have not shown any decline and he is still in “excellent” shape.

“I am the same fighter [compared to five years ago]I’m the same fighter I’ve always been, the same OG,” Fury told ESPN.

“In the next five years, I will still be the same, always.

“It’s a different man – one of them is about twenty years aged [when Fury fought Klitschko] and the other man is in his 30s [when Fury fought Usyk]. So it’s not the same player, not the same performance, not the same size of opponent and not the same style of opponent. Klitschko was 180 cm high and a monster, Usyk was a southpaw, a monster and smaller.

“But I thought I did amazing in both fights with Usyk. If you like skillful counter-punching and headbutting from a boxer that people can’t touch, you’ll like the former. If you like someone up front, bombing through the middle, you’ll like the latter. They were great performances.”

“I’m over the moon with these performances. I can’t lend a hand but not make a decision. But I think I did great in these fights. I don’t feel like I’ve regressed or that I’m too aged or anything like that. I feel like these were prestigious shows and if I made a decision, no one would say it was crap, right?”

“We are always evolving as fighters and people, always changing and learning fresh things. Even at the age of 37, you can always learn every day. I have always been a genius in the boxing ring, I have always been a dolphin in that ring.”

Fury hopes to defeat Russia’s Makhmudov and then fight Usyk again later this year and wants the fight to take place in the UK rather than Saudi Arabia, where he has fought his last three fights. Fury also said he was open to fighting English rival and former champion Anthony Joshua, who was involved in a car crash in December that killed two of his friends.

“I’ll get it [fight vs. Usyk]Who else will he fight? I’m cash, I’m cash flow in the division,” Fury told ESPN.

“Who else are they going to fight? At this level it’s all about money. I can’t see him fighting anyone else who can make as much money as fighting me. And we have unfinished business, I think I won the first two fights. But I don’t want to fight in the Middle East, I want to fight somewhere in the UK or Europe. The time zone is a killer for me and I’m not actually there [in Saudi Arabia].

“After the Anthony tragedy, I didn’t really push for it, but let’s see how he feels. If he wants to come back, great, but if he doesn’t want to come back, that’s great too. It’s not something I’m going to hold my breath for. We’ve been on the verge of this fight like five times and it still hasn’t happened.”

Usyk (24-0, 15 KO), 39, who will defend his WBC heavyweight title against kickboxer Rico Verhoeven in Egypt on May 23, aims to have three more fights before retiring, but Fury is not putting a time limit on how much time he will have left.

“I won’t say my age or how many fights I’ve had, I’ve retired many times and who knows, maybe I’ll retire after the next fight,” Fury told ESPN.

“I’m targeting this substantial Russian knockout puncher who’s here to knock my brains out. It’s a tough fight, I’ve been out of the ring for 16 months, maybe I’ll get knocked out, who knows, and then you won’t be able to target anything. That’s why I don’t like to talk about people who are my targets until I achieve what I’m trying to achieve right now, which is defeating Arslanbek Makhmudov. I will fight as many times as I can.” 2026.

“I’ve known Arslanbek for a long time. In 2023, when I was the WBC champion, he was ranked 1st or 2nd in the 2023 world heavyweight champion rankings, so I’ve known him for a while and I’ve seen all his high-profile fights. He’s a substantial, perilous puncher, a giant heavyweight, 180 cm, who can knock out and has a good right hand. He doesn’t have the best footwork in the world, but not many heavyweight giants do, but he he’s substantial, powerful and can play.”