Start time, undercard, fight updates and results tonight

Sixteen months after his last fight, Tyson Fury takes on Arslanbek Makhmudov in London
Tyson Fury will make his fifth return to boxing tonight as he faces Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The main-event contest will be Fury’s first fight in 16 months , with the Briton having retired (yet again) in the wake of his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk, a points defeat in December 2024.

Fury, 37, believes he can become a world heavyweight champion again, and a win over Russia’s Makhmudov will also move the Briton closer to a clash with Anthony Joshua – a domestic fight that is seemingly still on the cards after almost a decade of links between the boxers.

But Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) must beware ring rust as he takes on Makhmudov, 36, who brings a 21-2 record – including 19 KOs – into London for the biggest fight of his life.

And will Fury have his father present to support?

Maybe not, after John’s claim that their relationship is “destroyed” .

Follow live updates and results from Fury vs Makhmudov and the undercard, including Conor Benn vs Regis Prograis :
Deontay Wilder’s ex-coach on Makhmudov’s chances against Fury
“I don’t think [Makhmudov] punches as hard as he looks,” Malik Scott told Action Network .

“I think if he did, him and Dave Allen don’t go the distance.

I think if he did, he really wouldn’t have just lost the fights that he’s lost – because everybody that beat him, he did hit them, but they were able to take it and give it back.

“It just seemed when the going gets tough and the toughs get going, if you really know what you’re doing, you can break him.

“He doesn’t have Fury’s IQ, he doesn’t have Fury’s punch selection, he’s not Tyson Fury, but he’s big enough where he could hurt him.

“We have to see where Fury is at after this few months that he’s had off as well.

We gotta see how his legs are.

We gotta see how he reacts when he gets hit by this guy.”
Fury keen on trilogy bout with Usyk but ‘AJ’ clash must happen
Fury reiterated this week that he thinks he won both of his fights with Usyk.

The Independent was ringside for the first bout and saw Usyk as a narrow winner, while we felt the Ukrainian was a more-comfortable victor the second time.

In other words, we think the scorecards were right both times...

We have no real desire for a trilogy fight, and it doesn’t seem like fans do either.

Instead, Fury vs Joshua remains the fight to make.

Yet Joshua, per his promoter Eddie Hearn, is likely to return this summer – almost certainly in a warm-up fight for the prospective Fury showdown.

So, there’s still a lot that could go wrong and derail Fury vs Joshua once again...

The good news is: we know “AJ” is keen on the all-British super-fight, and Fury said this week that he wants it to happen this year.

Arslanbek Makhmudov’s record and last five results
Makhmudov is 21-2 (19 KOs) coming into tonight’s main event.

Here are his last five results, working backwards from his most recent:
Unanimous-decision win: 117-109, 116-110, 115-111
Tyson Fury’s record and last five results
Fury enters this fight with a pro record of 34-2-1 (24 KOs).

Here’s how he’s fared in his last five bouts, working backwards from his most recent:
Unanimous-decision loss: 112-116, 112-116, 112-116
Split-decision loss: 114-113, 113-114, 112-115
Francis Ngannou, October 2023, win
Split-decision win: 95-94, 96-93, 94-95
Derek Chisora, December 2022, win
Prograis hints at back-up fighter and injury ‘conspiracy’
Sticking on Prograis...

He has denied that he is injured going into his fight with Benn, in response to rumours circulating over the last fortnight.

“I feel like it’s some type of plot going on, like they want to put somebody else in my place,” Prograis told Boxing News this week.

“Because like, as soon as I got here, they were already saying: ‘Yeah, we’ve got somebody.

Let me know, we can have somebody.’
“I mean, I’m here.

I’m proving that I’m willing to fight.

I came, so why are people trying to put somebody else in my place already?”
Interview: Prograis on Benn’s split from Hearn and more
Tonight’s co-main event is Conor Benn’s first fight since his shock split from promoter Eddie Hearn.

Benn’s alleged $15m payday has not been publicly confirmed , but with Netflix streaming this event and with Saudi backing behind it, has Prograis noticed a significant improvement in his own pay?

“No, not really,” he tells The Independent .

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good payday, but I’m not getting $15m, I’ll tell people that.

“I just love boxing, I know I can beat Conor Benn, it’s gonna be on a big stage; for me, it’s a no-brainer to make the fight happen.”
Prograis on Benn’s split from Hearn and much more:
Regis Prograis opens up on Conor Benn and a history lesson that hints at upset win
Weigh-in reveals slight difference between Fury and Makhmudov
Fury was just 3lb (1kg) heavier than Makhmudov on Friday, as the pair tipped the scales ahead of tonight’s main event.

Fury came in at 267.9lb (121kg), after Makhmudov weighed 264.9lb (120kg).

With that, 37-year-old Fury was notably lighter than in his most-recent fight, a decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk 16 months ago.

On that occasion, Fury was a career-heaviest 281lb (127kg).

That result marked the second loss of Fury’s career, seven months after Usyk outpointed him for the first time.

Meanwhile, Makhmudov was 261.1lb (118kg) for his most-recent bout, a decision win over Britain’s Dave Allen in October.

Fury vs Makhmudov weigh-in confirms slight difference between opponents
Fury vs Joshua in Dublin?

Croke Park chief provides update
Croke Park’s chief executive has expressed a desire to bring Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury to Dublin, after rumours circulated that the super-fight could take place in the Irish capital .

Last week, boxing promoter Kalle Sauerland said he’d heard that Joshua vs Fury might take in Dublin this autumn, though one source played down the idea to The Independent .

Now, Croke Park’s Peter McKenna has provided an update on the mooted, all-British fight, which could go ahead if Fury beats Arslanbek Makhmudov tonight.

Joshua vs Fury in Dublin?

Croke Park chief provides update on super-fight rumours
If you’re Tyson Fury, you probably still haven’t escaped the squirm-inducing phase of the father-son relationship, and it’s all due to “Big John”.

Tyson himself is 37 now, but it was only two years ago that his father headbutted a teammate of Oleksandr Usyk , drawing blood – his own, not that of Stanislav Stepchuk.

You could argue that John, 58 at the time, should have known better.

You could argue that he should have picked on someone his own size, but then again, he has always said: “I’ll fight any man born from his mother.”
It’s a proud claim/quasi-threat that has led to very few (read “zero”) actual fights in recent years, but John was once a “fighting man”, as he so often reminds us.

“Gypsy John”, as he went by, was a bare-knuckle fighter before he compiled an 8-4 record in professional boxing across the Eighties and Nineties.

In 2011, he was also found guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, having gouged a man’s eye out in 2010 .

John received an 11-year sentence but emerged from prison in 2015 after serving two years.

The rambling world of John Fury: 15 bananas a day, and rift with Tyson
Will Fury’s father, John, be present tonight?

Tyson isn’t sure
The potential absence of Fury’s father adds a layer of personal drama to tonight’s event.

John Fury previously made headlines at the fight’s launch press conference on 16 February, where he launched an expletive-laden tirade at pundit Carl Froch .

But more recently and pertinently, he told the Daily Mail that his relationship with his son was “destroyed completely” .

Addressing his father’s stance, Fury explained this week: “He’s not happy.

He wanted me to retire in 2020 after I beat Deontay Wilder.

He is just not happy and doesn’t want me to box.

“I think when it’s your kids and when it’s your close relatives, you feel very concerned for the individual, and he has got his opinions.

He just doesn’t want me to do it, he never wanted me to do it for the past six years.”
Fury unsure if dad will attend comeback fight after ‘destroyed’ relationship claim
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