LONDON – We have a fight! Not that either man had any type of weight limit to make today at the Pelligon in Canary Wharf, London.
In around 24 hours Tyson Fury returns against Arslanbek Makhmudov following a 16-month layoff, which involved a very brief retirement.
There isn’t too much to write home about regarding the ceremonial weigh-in for Fury vs Makhmudov, but there rarely is. The one takeaway was that Fury had little interest in the usual long-drawn out and intensive face-off that was evident between Conor Benn and Regis Prograis in the chief support.
Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) came out to Eminem’s Guess Who’s Back while grinning from ear to ear while Makhmudov stood patiently waiting, looking at the floor for much of the time.
The face-off was one of the briefest in recent memory. Fury spent just six seconds sizing up Makhmudov before turning his back to the crowd and pointing at the back of a custom-made NFL jersey, with Fury—1 printed on the back. The face-off was long gone as Fury pivoted again at 180 degrees to show off a small snippet of shadow boxing. As Makhmudov calmly pointed his index finger in the air to signify, he is the number 1 in this heavyweight matchup. After that, both men had zero interest in sizing each other up again. Makhmudov exited swiftly with his team, while Fury continued in good spirits on the stage, waving at fans and taking photos with his team.
Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) weighed in at 267.9 pounds, just under 13 pounds heavier than his last fight, a unanimous-decision loss to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024. However, today’s weight was six pounds lighter than when he first clashed with Usyk seven months previously. There is rarely any consistency in Fury’s weight ahead of fight night.
Makhmudov (21-2, 19 KOs) hit the scale at 264.9 pounds. The Russian has maintained a similar weight for much of his career, usually falling in between 260 and 265 pounds.
The chief support between Benn and Prograis experienced a much sterner and intensive face-off after their ceremonial weigh in. Benn (24-1, 14 KOs) hit the scale at 149.5 pounds, while Prograis (30-3, 14 KOs) came in at 148.1 pounds for their catchweight contest at 150 pounds.
