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The 80,000-seat stadium is being lined up for the event, but timing depends on Fury beating Arslanbek Makhmudov this weekend and Joshua choosing not to take a summer fight.

If Joshua opts for a return bout before facing Fury, the fight shifts toward the end of the year, potentially in the UK.

Croke Park CEO Peter McKenna outlined how the event could also bring Katie Taylor to the venue. “The real hope is that we will get Tyson Fury here later on in the year. That would be such a world-billing event that we would be able to facilitate a Katie Taylor fight here,” he told BBC Sport.

“A lot of stars need to align. Katie’s manager needs to agree, Katie’s promoter needs to agree, Tyson Fury’s promoter needs to agree.

“I am very confident that all three are coming to the sense that this is one of Ireland’s greatest sporting athletes and it would be such a ‘wow’ to have her here and for her to finish her career here.”

Irish star Katie Taylor has long targeted a fight at Croke Park and has previously stated her ambition to end her career in Dublin, though her team has yet to comment on the latest discussions.

Fury has also addressed the situation directly. “I want to fight Joshua next,” he told BBC Sport, though he confirmed that no agreement is currently in place.

If both stay on course, Croke Park becomes the front-runner for one of the biggest heavyweight fights of the year.

The IBF super middleweight belt became vacant after Crawford left the division, leaving two unbeaten contenders to fill the opening at the Montreal Casino. It is a title fight created by absence, not by one man taking it from another.

Iglesias has that deceptive, “wiry” power. He doesn’t look like a traditional bruiser, but his leverage and timing are devastating. 13 knockouts in 14 fights tell the story.

Iglesias (14-0, 13 KOs) comes in as the favorite and already holds the IBO belt. His style has been built on pressure and power, walking opponents down and breaking them early. That approach has worked so far, but this is the first time he’s facing someone who is unlikely to give him that kind of fight.

Iglesias has this way of making the ring feel like it’s shrinking every second. His last opponent, Vladimir Shishkin, was a legit, top-tier contender who had never been stopped, and Iglesias crushed him physically and mentally before the finish in the 8th.

For tonight, I’m leaning toward another stoppage, but Silyagin might make him work a little longer than some expect. He has a very high ring IQ and a safety-first style that can be incredibly frustrating. He’s 16-0-1 for a reason.

The problem for Silyagin (16-0-1, 7 KOs) is that Iglesias is a body-punching specialist. If Silyagin tucks up in that high guard to protect his chin, Iglesias will just hammer away at the ribs and liver until those hands drop.

If Silyagin chooses to stay on the move the entire fight, as Shishikin did, he’s going to need to be conditioned because he’s going to be under constant pressure.

Iglesias is also fighting in front of his home crowd at the Montreal Casino. That atmosphere usually turns him into a shark that smells blood early.

There is no bad blood, no build-up tension, and no attempt to sell it as something bigger. Fury made that clear when describing how he views Saturday night.

“There’s no rivalry between me and Arslanbek. There’s no animosity. There’s nothing. It’s never been a rivalry,” said Tyson Fury to Queensberry about why he’s fighting Makhmudov. “Strictly business.”

The “it’s just business” line is the ultimate shield in boxing. When a fighter uses that phrase, they are basically trying to remove the burden of entertainment value from the conversation.

By viewing it this way, Fury is attempting to bypass a few specific criticisms and pressures. By calling it a “transaction,” he’s signaling that he’s doing this for the paycheck and the activity.

It serves as a subtle defense against the “soft touch” narrative. It’s his way of saying, “I know you wanted a blockbuster, but this is the deal that was on the table, and I’m here to finish it.”

“This is just a business transaction,” Fury said.

Whether it feels like a cheap excuse depends on how you view the heavyweight landscape right now. Fans who feel Fury has been “ducking” certain opponents or stagnating the division will likely see this as a way to coast.

“There’s no need to trash-talk somebody who’s not very good at English, who can’t speak back,” Fury said. “You need a dance partner to do all that with, and Arslanbek is not that person.”

If the former heavyweight king Fury were to scream at and belittle a man who barely speaks the language and is clearly the “B-side” of the promotion, it would look less like promotion and more like punching down. Fury knows that trash talk requires a specific type of opponent to work. Without it, he just looks mean-spirited.

“It doesn’t change. It’s just going to be usual business,” said Fury. “Any man who gets in there to fight me on the night is a challenge,” Fury said. “I’ve got to treat everybody exactly the same.”

For Fury, this is a career-support mission. By labeling it “usual business,” he is trying to project an air of control, but the numbers tell a much more desperate story.

At 37, turning 38 this year and coming off a 16-month hiatus, Fury is returning to the ring with a record that has cratered. If Makhmudov pulls off the upset on Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the “Gypsy King” era officially ends in a whimper.

A loss would technically be his third in a row after the back-to-back defeats to Usyk in 2024. If you factor in the Ngannou performance, which many fans viewed as a moral defeat, he hasn’t looked like a world-class operator since early 2023.

Fury has always carried extra weight, but in the second Usyk fight, he looked jaded and lacked the elite footwork that once allowed him to dance around giants.

The only reason this fight is happening on Netflix is to build toward a payday with Anthony Joshua. A loss to a 15th-ranked opponent destroys that leverage entirely.

By calling this “usual business” and saying he treats everyone the same, Fury is attempting to sound professional, but it can easily be read as a denial.

There is something inherently sad about a former undisputed-level champion fighting a “B-side” on a streaming platform just to prove he still belongs. If he struggles with Makhmudov, a fighter Fury himself described as “cumbersome” and “slow,” it won’t matter if he wins or loses. The “business” will be seen as bankrupt.

Fury is trying to avoid the desperation narrative by acting like he’s just clocking in for a shift. But when a fighter with a dad’s body and a string of losses starts talking about “business,” it usually means the fire for the sport has been replaced by the need for a check.

Hearn made a clear distinction between the two. In his view, Berlanga chose a money lane that fits his ceiling, while Hitchins arrived there after running out of alternatives.

On Berlanga, Hearn was blunt about both the opportunity and the limitation.

“I don’t think he’s necessarily going to win world championships, but financially this is a good opportunity for him,” Hearn said to Fight Hub TV.

Berlanga, 28, has essentially become a high-level gatekeeper or a special attraction fighter. He can still make good money, but the days of being gifted unearned shots at the undisputed king for eight-figure checks are likely over. He’s at a total career reset point.

The stats from that Sheeraz fight are brutal. Berlanga was dropped three times before being waved off in the fifth in that fight last July. When you lose back-to-back high-profile fights to Canelo and then Sheeraz and get stopped in the second one, that unbeaten power puncher marketing strategy is dead and buried.

Traditional promoters like Matchroom or Top Rank likely wouldn’t touch Berlanga at his previous price tag because he’s proven he can’t beat the top tier at 168.

“He’s not going to beat the top guys at 168. Come on,” Hearn said of Berlanga.

Hearn’s comment is the boxing version of “saying the quiet part out loud.” It’s a brutal reality check, but when you look at the scene of the 168-pound division, it’s hard to argue he’s wrong.

By saying “Come on,” Hearn is basically dismissing the marketing hype that he himself helped build when he was trying to sell the Canelo fight. It shows that even the people who promoted Berlanga didn’t actually believe he belonged with the elite.

Hearn revealed a situation where options disappeared one by one for Hitchins. Matchroom withdrew. Other promoters showed little interest. The negotiating stance taken before his last fight didn’t help.

“We withdrew our offer. Top Rank wasn’t an option, and Golden Boy wasn’t really an option,” Hearn said.

“They tried to be smart, then we were done,” said about Team Hitchins.

By saying “We withdrew our offer,” Hearn is signaling that he didn’t even want to go back and forth anymore. He felt the difference between what Hitchins wanted and what he was worth was too wide to bridge.

When Top Rank and Golden Boy also passed, it proved Hearn’s point. If the biggest players in the game aren’t bidding for you, you’re a misfit.

Hearn is basically calling out Richardson Hitchins and his team for fumbling the bag. In boxing circles, “trying to be smart” is promoter-speak for a fighter overestimating their market value and asking for money or terms that their ticket-selling power doesn’t justify.

“If you care about your legacy and you want to be great, don’t take it,” Hearn said.

Hearn’s comment is a direct shot at the Zuffa Boxing business model and what it means for a fighter’s autonomy. In the traditional boxing world, “greatness” is often measured by a fighter’s ability to navigate the rankings, pick up belts from the four major sanctioning bodies (WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO), and eventually become undisputed.

By saying “don’t take it,” Hearn is arguing that signing with Zuffa is effectively trading your “legacy” for a “paycheck” in a closed system.

The Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao rematch promotional run is not going smoothly following the official announcement.

Mayweather and Pacquiao faced off back in 2015, where ‘TBE’ claimed a legendary decision win over the Filipino phenomenon before hanging up the gloves two years later.

‘Pac Man’ revealed that he had suffered a severe right rotator cuff tear before the fight and has later said opting not to postpone the clash was the biggest regret of his career. He had surgery on his shoulder shortly after the fight but was unable to secure a rematch, that was until earlier this year, with a shock second encounter announced for September – undoubtedly one of the biggest events of the 2026 boxing calendar despite disapproval from many fans.

However, in recent days the fight has been thrown into doubt after Mayweather said that the venue was not finalised and that it would be an exhibition, not a pro contest as announced. Pacquiao’s team say he is in breach of contract for that, as well as other reasons.

Now, in an interview with FightHype, Shane Mosley, who lost to Mayweather in 2010 and Pacquiao the year after, declared that he has heard rumours that Pacquiao’s shoulder is hindering him once again.

“Floyd’s not the same Floyd that he was … but Manny also has some complications. I don’t know if it’s his shoulder, in his sparring or something like that. There’s stuff going on with him too.

“I’m seeing that he [Pacquiao] is having complications with his shoulder and stuff, so I don’t think that he will be able to train the same way that he did to get ready for the [Mario] Barrios fight. So, that could be something.

“Before [hearing of the shoulder injury] I was saying Pacquiao [will win], now I am saying that I don’t really know because I don’t know what Pacquiao can do. I don’t know if he can still run or spar, he can’t do what he used to do.”

It remains to be seen whether those whispers are true or not, with Pacquiao claiming to be fighting fit ahead of what is, until official word says otherwise, a professional rematch with Mayweather, scheduled for Saturday, September 19, live on Netflix.

Ennis stepped forward repeatedly during the stare-down, pointing his finger at the 23-year-old champion and closing the distance until both fighters were chest to chest. The moment escalated as Ennis continued the gestures at close range, forcing officials to step in and break them apart.

Zayas did not respond in kind. He held his ground without reacting, then later pointed to that same exchange as evidence that the matchup may not play out the way Ennis expects.

“He kept trying to believe that he’s as big as me, that he’s as tall as me. It’s different. It’s different. He saw it today,” Zayas said during the press conference.

The June 27 bout will see Ennis move up to 154 pounds to challenge Zayas, who holds the WBA and WBO titles. While much of the early attention has focused on whether Ennis’ skill set will carry up from welterweight, Zayas has centered his message on physical presence and composure.

Even though Zayas is only 23, he carries himself with a maturity that usually takes a decade longer to develop. Ennis was clearly trying to test the younger man’s chin, metaphorically speaking, before they ever put the gloves on.

By closing that distance and getting in his space, Boots was looking for a crack in the armor, a blink, a stutter, or a reactionary push that would signal Zayas was feeling the heat.

Instead, Zayas treated it like a light sparring session for the mind. There are a few reasons why his reaction, or lack thereof, is so telling:

Zayas looked physically comfortable. When a guy moves up in weight to fight you and tries to bully you, staying still is the ultimate power move. It sends the message that “you can’t move me.”

Zayas has been a marked man since he signed at 16. He’s used to veterans trying to “little brother” him. He didn’t take the bait because he’s seen the script before.

By not reacting, Zayas actually put the pressure back on Ennis. Now, Boots has to wonder why his usual intimidation tactics didn’t land.

It’s a case of an elite talent trying to use alpha energy against a champion who is perfectly content to let his titles and his frame do the talking. If Ennis was looking for a tell that Zayas was nervous, he came up empty-handed.

“I just feel like he gets frustrated when things don’t go his way, and he’s going to get really frustrated come June 27th,” Zayas said.

Xander is basically telling the world that Ennis has a “frustration trigger” when he can’t find his rhythm. The two fights against Karen Chukhadzhian are the perfect blueprint for Zayas’ argument.

In their first meeting in early 2023, Chukhadzhian’s movement and constant angles snapped Ennis’ 19-fight knockout streak. You could see the annoyance building in Ennis as the rounds ticked by and the highlight-reel finish remained out of reach.

Even though Ennis won the 2024 rematch in Philly, it was described by many as a “flat” and “sloppy” performance. Despite the knockdown, Ennis looked visibly bothered by the holding and the defensive tactics. He even admitted afterward that it’s hard to “get up” for guys he doesn’t respect as top-tier threats.

If Zayas can make Ennis miss in the first few rounds on June 27, he’s banking on “Boots” losing his cool and making the kind of defensive mistakes we saw in his recent outings.

“Man, to be great, you got to face the good guys,” Zayas said. “Just take an easy route. I want to be great. This is the way you do it.”

Zayas is positioning himself as the old-school throwback champion who seeks out the biggest threats while casting a shadow of doubt on Ennis’ career management.

While “Boots” is undeniably talented, the perceived hesitation in his career has created an opening for Zayas to attack his “greatness” credentials:

Passing on a Vergil Ortiz fight when both were rising contenders is often cited as a missed opportunity to prove he was the top dog of the new generation.

Whether it was promotional hurdles or strategic waiting, the fact that Ennis never shared the ring with Terence Crawford while “Bud” held all the cards at welterweight remains a major “what if.”

Taking a tune-up rather than challenging a top-tier contender immediately upon moving up gave Zayas the ammunition to say Ennis is playing it safe.

By calling this out publicly, Zayas is trying to get into Ennis’ head. He’s essentially saying, “I’m the young lion who wants the smoke, and you’re the guy who waits for the right conditions.” It puts the pressure on Ennis to not just win, but to be spectacular to prove Zayas wrong.

Zayas seems to understand that in today’s boxing game, fans respect the “take on all comers” mentality more than an undefeated record against lesser competition.

 

The 36-year-old heavyweight points back to his 12-round fight against Dave Allen as a turning point in how he views his own stamina and composure deep into fights. Before that bout, Makhmudov had built his record largely on early knockouts and had never been tested over the full distance.

“It gives me a lot of confidence, because I never fight before like that. Hard rounds, I never fight 12 rounds,” Makhmudov said to Boxingscene. “But because I have now, it’s good to have experience. Experience is always good. It’s always helping you, and it’s everything for me.”

That rooftop visual definitely tells a story from yesterday’s photo shoot. Seeing them side-by-side really highlights the physical contrast between the two. If Fury is coming in lighter and thinner, it might be a double-edged sword. He could be faster, or he could lack the mass to lean on a powerhouse like Makhmudov.

The idea of Makhmudov carrying his power into the late rounds is a legitimate nightmare for any heavyweight, but especially for one dealing with a long layoff. Heavyweight power is usually the last thing to go, but stamina and punch resistance are often the first to decline with age and inactivity.

Historically, Fury’s best defense was his movement and his ability to tie fighters up to tire them out. However, if Fury truly hasn’t regained the gas tank he showed in the Usyk rematch, he won’t be able to dance away for 12 rounds.

Makhmudov hits heavy. Taking those shots on the arms and shoulders for 30 minutes drains a fighter’s legs. Now that Makhmudov knows he won’t gas out at round six, he can pace himself to explode in the championship rounds.

Fury at 37 is in a different phase of his career. Being painfully thin after his hard training camp could suggest he’s worked on his cardio, but against a powerful Russian, you often need some meat on the bones to absorb the impact of those clubbing right hands.

The Russian contender added that fighting in the UK during that bout also helped prepare him for the environment he expects this weekend, where the crowd is likely to be heavily in Fury’s favor.

“It was amazing. Everyone was against me,” Makhmudov said about his last fight in Sheffield, England, against Dave Allen. “I said, ‘after the fight you’re gonna love me.’ And this happened.”

Some fighters need the love of the crowd to perform, but others turn into absolute monsters when they feel like the villain. Makhmudov clearly falls into the second category.

If Makhmudov can effectively unplug that energy by staying calm and landing heavy shots early, he could turn the O2 Arena into a very quiet place.

Fury’s late career has been defined by that heavy, mauling style, but Makhmudov is probably the worst person in the division to try to lean on. While most heavyweights get smothered by Fury’s size, Makhmudov thrives in the phone booth.

His clubbing shots are heavy-handed strength, where even a short, six-inch hook can do damage. If Fury tries to initiate the clinch to rest or drain Makhmudov’s energy, he might find himself in a world of trouble for a few reasons:

Makhmudov is a physical tank. Unlike some of Fury’s previous opponents, who were pushed around, the Russian has the core strength to hold his ground and keep his arms free.

Arslanbek is very comfortable landing hammer fists, short uppercuts, and thudding body blows while tied up. If Fury tries to lean, he’s leaving his ribs and the side of his head wide open.

A painfully thin Fury has less mass to use as a weighted blanket. If he doesn’t have the bulk to physically overawe Makhmudov, the clinch becomes a neutral zone where the harder puncher usually wins.

Fury’s grappling has helped him keep winning as his movement slowed down. But if he can’t use his weight to tire Makhmudov, he’s forced back into a long-range boxing match. With his legs looking questionable and his inactivity at an all-time high, staying on the outside for 12 rounds against a guy who is now confident in his stamina is a massive ask.

It’s a case of a veteran’s favorite trick potentially becoming his biggest liability. If Fury grabs hold and realizes he can’t move the man in front of him, the look on his face in round three or four will tell us everything we need to know.