Tyson Fury is returning to boxing for what could be the final run of his celebrated career.
He will box hard-punching contender Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
Makhmudov is an experienced heavyweight with a knockout ratio of over 90 per cent. But Fury claims he will go into this comeback fight without a trainer.
"I'm a one-man army. I train myself like Clubber Lang," Fury told Your Site. (Clubber Lang is the antagonist in Rocky III.)
Fury has had a successful training partnership with SugarHill Steward. With Steward in his corner, Fury became a world heavyweight champion for a second time, beating Deontay Wilder twice and also making successful defences against Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora.
But in 2024 he lost his WBC belt in an undisputed title fight with Oleksandr Usyk and could not get his revenge in their rematch.
Fury retired from the sport at the start of last year but went into training camp in Thailand in December to prepare for his comeback.
He has revealed that he will not be bringing in a trainer. "Nobody," Fury maintained. "I'll find what's best. As long as somebody gives me a drink, smear of Vaseline in between rounds, I'll be alright.
"The rest will take care of itself, 100 percent."
The sport, of course, has plenty of examples of boxers failing to heed the advice of their trainer or working with multiple coaches at the same time. But it's virtually unprecedented for a fighter to compete in a major heavyweight bout without a trainer.
Fury does have a new dynamic in his set up. He is in camp with his sons alongside him. "It's a surreal moment to have the boys there training with me," Fury said.
"It feels like just the other day I was that age, wanting to be a boxer and starting off in my career. Now they're in that position and training every day and enjoying it as well as I was.
"I wish them all the luck in the world and I know that if they can dedicate themselves and go on, anything's possible in life. Because I've already done it and proved it can be done."
Fury insists he's motivated to return for "the love of the sport and the banter that comes with it".
He added: "I'll tell you what I did in my spare time in retirement: I filmed two Netflix things, a biopic documentary of my life that took a long time, then I did a reality TV show, 'At Home with the Furys' season two, then I captained England for UNICEF, then I was travelling round on private jets and yachts and family holidays and lovely restaurants. Enjoying myself.
"But one thing I did see was boxing was dead without me. That's what I've come back for, to make boxing great again."
But with Tyson Fury anything always remains possible. Ahead of him there are potential fights with Usyk or the Fabio Wardley vs Daniel Dubois winner, or perhaps eventually a bout with Anthony Joshua.
Fury though warns not to take anything for granted, floating the possibility that he may even choose to step away from the sport once again.
"I can only concentrate on who I'm fighting and that's Arslanbek Makhmudov, and that's what I've got to do," he said.
"I've got to get him out the way, beat him and then who knows? That might be the end. I might retire again."
