By: Sean Crose
Many people were undoubtedly shocked when Arslanbek Makhmudov literally lifted Tyson Fury in the air while the two men were rough housing at a Thursday press conference. Fury laughed it off, but all served to prove a point – Makhmudov was not going to be intimidated. Intimidation is something Fury is quite good at himself. Check out his bullying behavior in the leadup to his 2015 heavyweight championship fight against then defending champion Wladimir Klitschko. Fury not only got inside his man’s head…he may have won the title because of it. There was no denying Klitschko didn’t look himself that evening.
Makhmudov, on the other hand, appears to be a different kind of animal. He clearly is the underdog walking into this weekend’s fight with Fury at London’s O2 Arena, but it’s doubtful the 6’6 Russian will buckle under the hot lights. He’s faced big challenges before, after all. The 21-2 fighter has literally wrestled a bear. Check it out on YouTube if you don’t believe it. The guy is pure Davey Crockett in the clips. No wonder he’s not intimidated by Fury. “I’m the kind of guy,” Makhmudov told ESPN, “since I was a kid, I was a very small kid, if I had a phobia, I took it as a challenge.”
He’s got quite a challenge ahead of himself in Fury The man’s only losses have come at the gloved fists of the legendary Oleksandr Usyk. Aside from that, Fury has 34 wins and a draw (for the first Wilder fight). What’s more, Fury has different aspects to his skill set. Against Klitschko the man was surprisingly slippery to hit. In the second Wilder fight, which Fury won by stoppage, the guy became a destructive and aggressive force. Unlike a bear, Fury can adapt to what’s transpiring in the ring.
Makhmudov may not be able to reach into his bag of tricks and pull out a new style, but he has heavy hands, and a menacing, come forward style that can wear a guy like Fury out. If stamina becomes an issue for Fury at the age of 37, he might find himself in a bit of trouble. Still, it’s hard to see Makhmudov performing brilliantly on Saturday – though he certainly may have his moments. He has slow feet and his punches, although powerful, don’t come in at a lightning pace. Fury has faced power punchers before, perhaps the hardest hitter in the sport’s history, in fact (I’ve yet to find a fighter who does, or used to, hit as hard as Wilder).
Yet Makhmudov is no doubt aware that time waits for no one. I still recall Fury throwing his youth in Klitschko’s face all those years ago. Now he’s the older man. He might only be 37 to Makhmudov’s 36, but he’s had a grueling life at times, both in and out of the ring. Add that to time away from the ring and it’s not impossible to envision Makhmudov pulling off the upset this weekend. It may not be likely, but it would be ridiculous to say it’s impossible.
Sure enough, Makhmudov sees Fury as underestimating him walking into Saturday’s fight. “To him it’s a warm-up fight,” he said to ESPN, “but for me it’s everything. I cannot lose my chance.” Tough talk from a tough man…but the kind of talk fight fans have heard before. Besides, Fury declares he’s focused on the task at hand. “I don’t want to mention names when I’ve got a dangerous fighter in front of me,” Aljazeera quotes the towering Brit as saying. “The rest can get a hiding but I need to give Makhmudov a hiding first.” What it all comes down to, then, is how well each fighter performs in the ring in less than 48 hours.
Going back to the bear fight: Makhmudov makes it clear that the experience was no kind of fun. “You only understand its strength when you’re close to it,” he said. “In one second you can become like meat, just meat, just like that.” In a sense, you can almost picture Makhmudov speaking of certain fighters the same way, particularly ones who roar like Tyson Fury. One thing, however, is certain: Makhmudov won’t be paralyzed with fear when the opening bell rings Saturday night in London.
