Tyson Fury says weight never mattered before the comeback

It’s a famous line from Tyson Fury, but it also points to the real question hanging over his comeback. The issue is not whether Fury won fights while carrying weight. He clearly did. The issue is time.

Fury says he is around 20 stone and expects to get under 19 stone for his return, which he is targeting for the first quarter of 2026. That would put him out of the ring at about 16 months by the time he boxed again, at an age where inactivity tends to appear more quickly and last longer.

There is precedent for long absences. After defeating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, Fury disappeared for more than two years and returned significantly heavier. That comeback worked because the distribution was slower and the claims were lower. That version of Fury can afford rounds to finish.

His most recent testimony is less forgiving. Fury weighed in at a career-high 281 pounds for his second loss to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024. The weight itself wasn’t the problem. He fought competitively and had moments. However, the margins were thinner.

The only time Fury’s condition clearly betrayed him was in the 2023 fight with Francis Ngannou, when preparation seemed haphazard and consequences followed. That night mattered because it showed how quickly his style collapses without discipline.

At around 265 pounds, Fury would be close to where he was for Dillian Whyte, Derek Chisora, and the first Deontay Wilder win. That weight worked before.

Fury’s body has survived criticism before; what it hasn’t proven is that it can still carry elite timing after 16 months away.