Tyson Fury has admitted that watching Deontay Wilder and Derek Chisora fight last weekend left him questioning whether he is on the same trajectory as the two aging heavyweights.
Speaking on the Inside Ring Show ahead of his return to the ring Saturday night against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, Fury was honest about the doubts the performance stirred in him.
“After watching Deontay and Chisora the other night fight, it was hard to watch for me,” Fury said. “It was sad, it was heartbreaking. And I’d never seen two men slide as much as them two in my life.” The performance prompted an immediate and personal reaction. “I’m thinking, ‘Am I f—ing next? Is this me?’ So I said to the boys, ‘If I’m even 10 percent as bad as those guys in my fight, take me out to the field and shoot me.’”
Fury has not fought since dropping back-to-back decisions to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024. Saturday’s fight against Makhmudov will mark 16 months out of the ring, a long layoff that Fury acknowledged carries its own complications at this stage of his career.
“By the time the fight comes around on Saturday, I’ll have been out of the ring 16 months,” he said. “At 37 years old, 16 months is a long time. So I have a little bit of stuff to do and to think about in my own mind, and see how I am.”
Beyond Saturday, a long-discussed fight with Anthony Joshua remains on the horizon. Reports have suggested Fury vs. Joshua could be finalized for Croke Park in Dublin this September, though promoter Eddie Hearn has stated the fight is not yet confirmed, with Joshua’s team continuing to weigh options, including a potential summer bout with Turki Alalshikh.
Tommy Fury has revealed that the Fury family is unified in its concern over Tyson continuing to box, even as the former heavyweight champion prepares to return to the ring Saturday night against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Speaking to Bloody Elbow, Tommy was honest about the family’s private feelings while still backing his brother to get the job done.
“I think if you asked any one of his family do we want to see him keeping boxing the answer would have been an all around ‘no,’” Tommy said. “That’s all the way around the board because we care about his health. Obviously, you guys are fight fans, you love to see him in the ring because he brings that entertainment. But we think of his health and everything like that so listen, he’s decided to keep fighting, it’s Tyson who is a fighting man who loves to do so. But I guess time will tell and I think he definitely still has it in him because he wouldn’t be getting in that ring if he knew he didn’t.”
Despite those reservations, Tommy expressed confidence in Tyson’s ability to handle Makhmudov, while acknowledging that the Russian presents a genuine threat. “I think it’s going to be a great fight,” Tommy said. “I think he probably could have picked an easier fight to come back against.
He’s massive, he’s a man mountain with a knockout ratio and power and he’s been in some big fights before. The thing is, Tyson just needs to stay switched on this Saturday, box how he knows he can box and he’ll get the job done. If he does that, I don’t see the fight going past eight or ten rounds. If he boxes like I know he can Makhmudov is getting stopped late on.”
Saturday’s fight, which streams live on Netflix, marks Tyson’s return after losing back-to-back decisions to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024. He will have been out of the ring for 16 months by fight night.
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have reportedly agreed to fight in Dublin this fall, according to veteran promoter Kalle Sauerland. The heavyweight clash will take place in Ireland rather than the UK, US, or Saudi Arabia.
Sauerland revealed the news during a press conference for Derek Chisora vs Deontay Wilder on Wednesday. The two former heavyweight champions have fought on multiple occasions before, including in 2021, when they held every belt in the division.
Promoter Confirms September-October Timeframe
Speaking with IFL TV, Sauerland stated, “I think Fury-AJ is done for the Autumn in Dublin.” When pressed for details, he added: “That’s what I’ve heard, done for Dublin in I think September/October.”
The promoter acknowledged he may have revealed information prematurely. “Have I put my foot in it? That’s what I’ve heard, word on the street,” Sauerland said when asked if the news was public.
Croke Park Expected to Host Mega-Event
The fight is expected to take place at Croke Park, which has a capacity of 82,300. There have been active talks to have Katie Taylor finish her career at the stadium around the same timeframe.
Fury has ties to Ireland as a member of the traveling community and a former Irish heavyweight champion. Frank Warren has previously teased a potential collaboration with Eddie Hearn to stage a major event in the Irish capital.
Sauerland also revealed that the winner of Saturday’s Chisora vs Wilder fight will face Oleksandr Usyk next. Joshua is scheduled to attend the event alongside Hearn.
John Fury has publicly confirmed that his relationship with heavyweight champion Tyson Fury is broken — and says he will not attend the April 11 fight against Arslanbek Makhmudov, speaking on the Playbook Boxing YouTube channel.
“Destroyed it completely,” John said bluntly. “He hasn’t showed me enough respect to say, ‘You know what, me dad could be right.’”
Blood vs. the Entourage
At the heart of John’s grievance is a sense that Tyson has consistently chosen his entourage over his own father — and that doing so crosses a line John cannot forgive. He drew a stark contrast between himself and the people he sees profiting from his son.
“He’s broke the golden rule with me as a man,” John said. “He can keep going with his plastic friends. But he’ll want me before I’ll want him. And don’t forget — at 60 year old, we ain’t got much time left, have we?”
John was equally clear that money plays no role in his position.
“If you can’t show your father respect when it’s needed, keep going. I don’t need you. I don’t need him and his millions. I need nothing off him. I wish him well. But he’s put those people before me — his blood father. That’s it.”
‘If He Gets in Trouble, He’s Dead’
John’s refusal to attend or follow the April 11 Netflix card is not simply the product of a family falling-out — it’s also tied to his genuine fear for Tyson’s safety without him in the corner. In a separate part of the interview, John went further, detailing his belief that Tyson is a physically diminished fighter whose best years were left behind in the Wilder trilogy.
“Will I be at the fight? No. Will I listen to it? No,” he said. “If I had have been in his corner and he was in trouble, he wouldn’t be dead. If he gets in trouble with them in his corner, he’s dead or brain damaged for life.”
He acknowledged Tyson will likely win the bout — “which he probably will” — but stressed that his last two performances leave serious questions unanswered heading into the contest.
The Warning to Paris Fury
With his voice no longer reaching Tyson directly, John said he has taken his concerns to Tyson’s wife, Paris, urging her to intervene before it’s too late.
“I even said to his wife: ‘You’re going to have to be a bit more forceful with this guy, because you’re going to end up by yourself. What good’s a shell of a man who’s took too many punches when he should have ended his career?’”
When asked if the relationship can be repaired, John offered no certainty but stopped short of closing the door entirely. “I don’t know. It is what it is. I love my son — but there’s too many people patting him on the back and telling him he’s Tarzan when he’s not Tarzan.”
John Fury delivered a scathing assessment of his son Tyson’s physical and tactical decline in a wide-ranging interview on Playbook Boxing, arguing the three-fight series with Deontay Wilder permanently diminished the heavyweight champion ahead of his April 11 return.
Asked point-blank what is missing from Tyson now — technically and tactically — John’s answer was a single word.
“Everything. When you fight one of the hardest punchers in boxing history three times, it takes something out. You can never fill that tank up like you had it before.”
The Wilder Wars Left Permanent Damage
John traced the root of his son’s decline directly to the Wilder trilogy, particularly the toll of going to the absolute limit in brutal heavyweight warfare. He recalled a conversation with Tyson that stayed with him.
“He said afterward, ‘Dad, I was prepared to die.’ And when he got that knockout on Wilder, he had nothing left after that. He laid it all on the line.”
His assessment of the two Oleksandr Usyk fights was blunt.
“I watched the Usyk fight last time — power weren’t there. The moves was there, but after six or seven rounds, it was fading quick. The old Tyson would have knocked them out in five rounds before he met Wilder, because he’d have the engine standing in the middle of the ring and keep going. There’s no two-phased attacks. There’s nothing. When there is a handle, it’s labored. The legs ain’t there.”
‘You Only Find Out When the First Bell Rings’
The most troubling element, John argued, is that the true state of Tyson’s legs cannot be evaluated in a gym — only under fire.
“People don’t understand — it’s not in the training. It’s when the first bell rings. He’ll only find that out when the first bell rings.”
He had begged Tyson to walk away after the second Usyk loss, a plea he now makes publicly.
“I said to him: you’re out 18 months. Forget it. You’re not what you were. Leave it. Begged and prayed of him. Leave it. Your power’s not up to scratch.”
Usyk Getting Smarter, Tyson Getting Older
John also pointed to the contrasting career management of Usyk as evidence the scales are tilting further against any potential trilogy. While Tyson chose a difficult fight in Arslanbek Makhmudov for his April comeback, Usyk has taken a calculated route against Rico Verhoeven.
“Nothing’s going to change because Tyson’s getting weaker and Usyk’s getting stronger, because Usyk’s smarter. He’s having the easier route. Father time waits for no one. He’ll let Fury do all the donkey work and it’ll make it easier for the trilogy.”
John’s verdict on the fight choice itself was equally damning:
“What he should have done is box clever. Let two men kill each other. But what’s he done? He’s being a hero. Ego has took over his brain power.”
The Mental Health Dimension
John also offered rare context for what was happening behind the scenes during Tyson’s well-documented mental health struggles — revealing that he was quietly fighting his own crisis at the same time, and that neither knew the other was equally broken.
“I went for a walk with Tyson. He was ill at this time. But little did he know I was iller than him. We were both messed up in the head walking on that road. He’s saying, ‘This ain’t right now.’ I’m thinking, ‘I’m not on my own here.’”
Most strikingly, John revealed that just two weeks before the first Usyk fight, Tyson broke down mid-sparring and John called for the bout to be pulled entirely.
“Two weeks before the Usyk fight — two rounds sparring. He’s laid down in the ring and he’s crying his eyes out. I said, ‘Stop. Right. Pull the fight.’ My head’s gone. Yours is gone. We need time to rebuild our minds.”
That Tyson fought on — and pushed through — speaks to the same quality John cited from the Wilder years. But it also raises questions about the judgment calls being made around him, and whether the people in his corner are giving him the honest counsel a fighter needs heading into another dangerous heavyweight assignment.
Eddie Hearn has pushed back hard on reports that Anthony Joshua has agreed to fight Tyson Fury, calling the claim “completely untrue” and confirming no deal is in place for the long-awaited all-British heavyweight showdown.
The denial came after talkSPORT’s Gareth A Davies reported over the weekend that the fight is “agreed” and set to stream on Netflix — a claim that also clashed with Joshua’s existing broadcast partnership with DAZN.
“Completely untrue. There is absolutely nothing signed with Anthony Joshua to fight Tyson Fury next. There is nothing agreed,” Hearn told The Stomping Ground. “There have been conversations — deep conversations prior to the accident — but since then, there have been no real conversations about that fight.”
Car Crash Derailed 2026 Plans
The original roadmap had Joshua returning in March before facing Fury later in the year. Those plans collapsed after Joshua was involved in a fatal car crash in Lagos, Nigeria, on December 29, which claimed the lives of two of his close friends and teammates, Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele.
Hearn confirmed to Boxing Scene that the revised plan has Joshua targeting a comeback in July or late summer, though he cautioned that a return date depends on when “AJ” gets back into training camp.
“Physically he’s not yet in a position to return to camp,” Hearn said. “We’ll only know if July is a real possibility when he returns to camp, which will hopefully be in the next couple of weeks or a month.”
The promoter has also walked back the certainty around a Fury fight happening at all. Speaking to Yahoo Sport, Hearn admitted there are “no guarantees” Joshua fights again, and acknowledged he doesn’t know whether Joshua vs. Fury will “ever happen right now” — a marked shift from the confident timeline he was projecting before the accident.
Fury Fights April 11, Joshua Door Still Open
Fury, meanwhile, returns on April 11 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against hard-hitting contender Arslanbek Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KOs), live on Netflix. The fight marks Fury’s first bout on British soil in nearly four years and his comeback from a self-declared retirement.
Hearn stopped short of closing the door on Joshua-Fury entirely.
“We’re open to the Fury fight,” he said, “but probably more likely end of the year — maybe early 2027.”
He also noted that Saudi Arabia’s Turki Alalshikh remains the key figure in brokering any deal, saying Joshua’s side has accepted a framework but that the Fury negotiations are out of their hands.
“It’s Turki Alalshikh’s responsibility to talk to Tyson Fury and try to make the deal,” Hearn said. “Is the fight made? No. Because I don’t know where he’s at with Tyson Fury.”
