Arslanbek Makhmudov has enjoyed his recent British renaissance despite losing a lopsided unanimous decision to Tyson Fury in front of 64,500 people at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London earlier this month.
Prior to his loss against the two-time heavyweight world champion, Makhmudov (21-3, 19 KOs) had comfortably outpointed Doncaster’s David Allen at Sheffield Arena last October. As the domineering Russian looks to continue his work on British shores, he has thrown his opinion into the mix on a much-publicized domestic dust-up between Fury and Anthony Joshua.
“He did say that he was going to knock me out in the sixth or seventh round, but if he does fight Joshua, I think he will knock him out,” Makhmudov said exclusively to FightsATW. “I think they are both very good fighters, but I say what I feel. Even if he doesn’t knock him out, he will destroy him for sure.
“He punches hard, but he is very sneaky, you know. In Russia, I had a coach who always used to tell me that a good boxer is not always going to go with his strongest punch. They will change the level of their power. It’s very high-level technical boxing. I can be quite bad at that because I fight with a lot of emotion and always go for the big punch. But with Tyson Fury, he is very good with that.”
Ahead of his victory against Allen, it was heavily reported that Joshua had offered Makhmudov the chance to lock horns if he was successful in Sheffield. The 36-year-old Russian kept his end of the bargain; however, Joshua would instead enjoy a comical sixth-round stoppage over Jack Paul in Miami last December, while Makhmudov would move into the bout with Fury.
“I gave Fury a good test, and he passed the test,” Makhmudov explained. “I can give the same test to Anthony Joshua. I will also give my best against him. He can see for himself. Does he want this test or not? It is a big exam for him to fight me. I have big experience. Listen, I have 75 fights in WSB, 24 fights as a professional and I have plenty of experience fights as a professional and I have plenty of experience as an amateur. I come out of the Russian boxing school, which is one of the best in the world. Listen, Anthony Joshua, I have enough experience to bring you some pain in the ring.”
Boxing fans were led to believe that Fury would be announcing a long-awaited all-British barnstormer with Joshua following his expected victory against Makhmudov. However, a clumsy piece of theatre ensued with Joshua rejecting Fury’s call to face off in the ring after his return to action from a 16-month layoff.
“I thought they were going to fight right away, and now I hear that he will have a comeback fight before the Fury fight,” Makhmuodv added. “I said to him the same thing I said to Fury, that I can do a fight in November or December. It would be perfect for me and perfect for you; we both have time to rest and prepare. When we spoke to him last year, I have the message where he promised me that if I go and beat Dave Allen then we will see what is going to happen. So, I said, ‘Okay, let’s go.’ I went and beat Dave Allen, so I said to him, ‘Listen, I did my job,’ and he didn’t talk. Now I did the second fight, against Tyson Fury, which wasn’t bad in my opinion. I am still waiting for his response.”
Joshua has been rebuilding in the gym since being involved in a fatal car crash in Nigeria that saw two of his close friends lose their lives shortly after the victory against Paul. Ahead of the victory over the media personality turned boxer and promoter, Joshua had made a change to his training team by linking up with Oleksandr Usyk‘s backroom staff. Joshua has since returned to Usyk’s Valencia-based training camp to rehabilitate and prepare for an expected announcement on his next bout.
“He should follow his words like a man, and we should make the fight,” Makhmuodv continued. “The same way I did with Fury. He is a man! I understand that Fury taking a comeback fight against a guy like me is very dangerous, to be honest with you. But he did, because he is a man. Now it is the turn of Joshua to show if he is a man or not. Or he can keep fighting people like Jake Paul, who is some sort of fake. You have to show that you are a real man, involved in real boxing. You have to show real ambition and show people in the boxing world that you are a proper man and have the courage to follow your words. Let’s do it. I’m going to be ready in Riyadh for November. It is the perfect time.”
Discover more from Fights Around The World
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
