Former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury ends his latest retirement this Saturday when he faces heavy-handed Arslanbek Makhmudov atop Netflix’s latest boxing show.
Bad Left Hook will have LIVE coverage of the card starting at 1:00 pm ET.
Fury (34-2-1, 24 KO) hasn’t seen action since December 2024, when he dropped second straight decision to rival Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh. Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KO) is coming off a grimy decision over Dave Allen, his second victory since a 1-2 skid.
Can Fury re-establish
himself as one of the best in the game, or is Makhmudov too big a hurdle?
Who will win Fury vs Makhmudov?
We’ve seen many versions of Tyson Fury over the years, from shockingly nimble technician to Big Galoot and everything in between. I’m not sure we’ve seen a version yet that loses to Makhmudov.
It’s not that “The Lion” can’t crack, but beneath that terrifying physique is a thimble-deep game. If he can’t just blast opponents into oblivion in the opening minutes, the man does not have a second gear; watching him bounce the same straight punches off of Allen’s guard round after round, even as “The White Rhino” sat wide open for body shots, was agonizing.
Fury has admittedly been caught by similarly shallow fighters in the past, namely Deontay Wilder and Francis Ngannou, but Makhmudov doesn’t have the clinch skills that made Ngannou a handful and his power doesn’t carry late the way Wilder’s does.
Makhmudov has notable endurance issues in general, as well. Agit Kabayel needed less than four rounds to chop him down and he consistently loses potency if forced past 10 minutes or so. Whether he’s spending the bulk of his time chasing Fury or trying to peel himself out of the clinch, he’s not going to be doing it for long before most of the zip leaves his punches.
If he can’t outmaneuver or outlast Fury, that leaves an early finish as Makhmudov’s best chance of victory. Unfortunately, if there’s one thing we know about “The Gypsy King,” it’s that he doesn’t go away easy. It wouldn’t be shocking to see Makhmudov clip him with a stray shot, but keeping him down seems beyond his capabilities.
We’ve seen Makhmudov’s ceiling and it’s below Fury’s floor. Fury drains his gas tank and pours it on for a finish before the championship rounds.
Prediction: Fury by eighth-round TKO
