Tyson Fury is being sold as a comebacker, but the only question that matters is whether he can take another clean shot, and Teddy Atlas isn’t convinced.
Atlas didn’t put it on. He went straight to the point. “It’s not a foregone conclusion because we don’t know what Fury has left. We don’t. He gets hit on the chin with an uppercut, or a straight right hand, you don’t know what will happen,” Teddy told BetVictor.
That uncertainty did not come out of nowhere. Fury was badly injured in the ninth round of his first fight with Oleksandr Usyk and received a standing count after sustained punches forced him into survival mode. He made it through the round, but the reaction was there, and it changed how his durability was perceived.
The pattern shows in other recent fights. Fury was dropped by a left hook in the third round against then 0-0 starter Francis Ngannou in October 2023. In the Deontay Wilder Trilogy fight in October 2021, he was also down in the fourth round and allowed time to recover before the action resumed, with the count at a measured pace.
Arslanbek Makhmudov doesn’t need Usyk’s accuracy to make it uncomfortable. He’s slower and easier to read, but he carries heavier single-shot power with either hand and throws with intent as soon as he sets his feet. The punches he landed on Dave Allen in his last fight were heavy and direct, the kind that change how an opponent reacts the moment they connect.
Fury, 37, is coming off back-to-back defeats to Usyk that cost him his titles and removed the presumption that he can resolve the issue and recover. For years, his size and recovery allowed him to absorb mistakes and maintain control of a fight. That expectation is no longer automatic after what has been seen in the ring.
The fight on April 11 against Makhmudov is considered a step back in position. Atlas treats it as something simpler. If he can take a clean shot without getting hurt, he stays in control. If he can’t, it ends quickly.
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Last updated on 2026/03/25 at 12:14
