Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury came out of retirement Saturday in front of a warm reception at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London opposite Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Fury (35-2-1, 24 KOs) earned a unanimous decision over Makhmudov (21-3, 19 KOs), taking the judges’ scorecards 120-108, 120-108 and 119-109.
Fury, 37, hadn’t fought in 16 months.
In Round 1, he mostly fought off his back foot while Makhmudov landed solid strikes against the ropes, but there was nothing definitive that could have been knockdown-worthy.
In Round 2, Fury was more flat-footed as Makhmudov kept pushing Fury against the ropes. Fury continued to circle and find space, but Makhmudov seemed to have an answer regardless of what Fury tried to throw his way.
Round 3 saw Fury pick up the pace, but again, Makhmudov continued to clinch against the ropes to give Fury as little space as possible.
Round 4 was the first in which Makhmudov’s energy began to drain a bit despite him getting off a couple of hard shots during the midway point. None, however, knocked Fury down.
After a lackluster Round 5 that barely saw Fury put together a clean set of combinations, Round 6 saw Makhmudov’s pace return to normal as he avoided Fury’s jabs and didn’t let him get inside at all.
Through six rounds, Fury’s 105 attempted strikes painted only a small picture for how slow he actually looked. Unofficially, Fury led 59-56, per the broadcast on Netflix.
Round 7 was much of the same as Round 6, with little action. In Round 8, Makhmudov’s clinch work was enough for Fury to get frustrated and retreat to the center of the ring. An uppercut from Fury was the start of arguably his best round of the fight as Makhmudov’s stamina began to fade.
In Round 9, Fury had a sizable margin of strikes thrown as opposed to Makhmudov’s early success. The latter’s clinch work was less effective, which benefited Fury.
Round 10 saw more clinch work from both fighters, as Fury led 89-83 unofficially. Furry caught Makhmudov’s chin with another uppercut, but again, it wasn’t enough to finish him.
Round 11 was similar to Round 12, but Fury came up short on funding the knockout shot. Both traded in the center as the seconds ticked away. Both men embraced as the decision was being rendered, alongside being visibly exhausted.
–Field Level Media
