Why is Anthony Joshua in attendance for Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov?

Tyson Fury came back from another short-lived retirement with an easy win over Arslanbek Makhmudov. However, the show was not the reason why British heavyweight star Anthony Joshua was in attendance.

Makhmudov was, by all means, a tune-up fight for Tyson Fury. After the win, it’s all set up for Fury to fight with Anthony Joshua in what would be the biggest British bout of all time, and one of the best heavyweight collisions in history.

Fury and Joshua have been atop of heavyweight boxing for more than a decade, yet they have never crossed paths, until now. Joshua’s attendance was to set up the first step of the bout, which is start to build it.

Fury couldn’t finish Makhmudov, but dominated the whole fight

As usual, Fury gave away the first round with the goal of studying what Makhmudov would bring to the table. After that, Fury toyed with Makhmudov relying on his speed, accuracy, and simply outboxing Makhmudov.

Makhmudov has not much to his arsenal. He threw haymakers without much set up, and Fury saw them come from yesterday. Hence, he evaded and punished. The judges’ scorecards showed Fury winning by 120-108, 120-108, 119-109.

See also

How much is Tyson Fury making for fight vs Arslanbek Makhmudov?

Joshua vs Fury will be an absolute spectacle

Not only are they both top-tier heavyweights, they are two huge stars. Both mainstream media and boxing hardcore fans will be appealed by this bout. It will actually paralyze the boxing scene. After the fight, Fury and Joshua exchanged some friendly-yet-competitive words between them at ringside.