Tyson Fury will return to the ring in the coming months and ‘most definitely’ has what it takes to become world champion again, according to manager Spencer Brown,
‘The Gypsy King’ spent the entirety of 2025 in retirement following back-to-back losses to Oleksandr Usyk, though recently confirmed the comeback that most felt inevitable.
With ambitions of more huge fights before truly calling time on his career — including potentially against the likes of Fabio Wardley, Anthony Joshua and Usyk again — Fury is set to have a relative tune-up fight to get back into the swing of things in an ever-changing heavyweight division.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Brown confirmed that Fury’s target return is April and said there is currently a list of opponents being explored, with Russian powerhouse Arslanbek Makhmudov near the top.
“There’s four or five different opponents we’re looking at. There’s a few that tweak our interest. We are really down the road with the contract. We’ve got a bit more work on it but we’re down the road and an announcement is imminent. You will see Tyson back in the ring and we’re looking and talking at various opponents at this very moment. We’re looking to get out in April.
“I’d say he [Makhmudov] is in top three or four, most definitely. We’re looking at five or six different opponents. That’s not for me to announce, that’s for the promoter to announce. Everybody is working hard to get this fight underway. That wouldn’t be my position to announce that but I can confirm he’s one of the three or four we are looking at very closely.”
No big UK cards have been announced for April at the time of writing, though Moses Itauma’s rescheduled bout with Jermaine Franklin on March 28 likely rules out the first week.
Makhmudov is coming off a points win over Dave Allen in October of last year. With 19 knockouts from 21 wins, he poses a threat to any heavyweight, however has fallen short at the top level against Agit Kabayel and, to a lesser extent, Guido Vianello.
Asked if Fury has what it takes to win in April and push on for a belt, perhaps against KO puncher Wardley, Brown said absolutely.
“Most definitely [he can become world champion again]. I speak to Tyson daily and he’s really enjoying boxing again. He’s in Thailand and having a great time. He hasn’t started sparring yet but he’s really looking forward to coming back.”