After two rejuvenating months in Thailand, the 37-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion is back in full salesman mode after deciding to call time on a retirement that was fooling nobody - except, he insists, himself.

But there is a crucial and tangible difference this time around, now nearly 18 months on from the last time he conducted interviews at a launch press conference. That day in October 2024, a few miles south of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Fury and Oleksandr Usyk came face-to-face for the first time since their fight the previous May.

Fury, beaten on points in the initial encounter, had opted to take the immediate rematch and was back in a room full of journalists explaining his decision. That roundtable took a particularly dark turn when he revealed that his wife Paris had suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage on the eve of her husband’s fight with Usyk.

Fury was in philosophical mood as he discussed the family’s tragic loss. He also outlined clearly why he thought he won the fight and he promised that he had no intention of walking away from boxing. Was he happy? That is always a difficult question to answer when it comes to Fury.

 But on Monday in north London, in a room overlooking the pitch where he will fight Arslanbek Makhmudov on April 11, it was a pretty straightforward response. A little under four hours before he and Makhmudov took to the stage to formally announce their encounter, Fury spoke to this column in his robe and slippers.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been happier with my boxing than I am now,” Fury said. “I’m really happy, really positive and everything’s going well.”

In fairness, the past eight weeks have been spent living on a superyacht off the coast of Thailand with his young son Prince and nephew John Boy in tow. From that luxury base, Fury has embarked on an eight-week camp on the mainland, which has consisted of at least two sessions a day.

“I run every day,” he said. “Anywhere between 5-10 miles and then I train in the afternoons. We’ll maybe do 15 rounds minimum with 1,000 reps on the abs afterwards. Then I’ll go downstairs, have a massage, have an ice bath, have a shower.
Then it’s back to the yacht.”

There is no denying that those two months in the sun seem to have left Fury in supreme shape, both emotionally and physically, but the master storyteller knows a comeback like this is nothing without a little jeopardy.

“I’ve been away over a year now,” he said. “By the time I get back in the ring it will have been almost 16 months. I know I’m brilliant, I’m excellent, but how good am I? I’m 37 years old coming back against a live, match-fit opponent with 20 knockouts on his record. How good can one man be?”

As soon as our interview ends, a tray of steak and rice is slid in front of the robed two-time world heavyweight champion. He picks at the side salad as he calculates the next move of this promotion.

“I’ll do one more interview,” Fury said. “Then I’ll eat this.”

A few rooms down the hall, the scene could not be more different. There were camera crews following Fury’s every move, members of his family lined the room and security delivered his lunch while he spoke. He says his return has brought “the circus” back to boxing and it is hard to disagree.

“I’m the cash cow,” Fury roared, arms aloft.

 But there is an eerie silence in the room occupied by Makhmudov and Antonin Decarie, the general manager of Eye of the Tiger Management. There was no steak here, either, just a couple of protein bar wrappers and an empty coffee cup. It was also a plain black tracksuit to Fury’s custom designer robe.

 The Russian smiles when it is put to him that most boxing fans consider him terrifying. Then he answers so quietly that it is barely audible above the soundcheck going on in the press conference room downstairs.

“People can think what they like,” he says. “But they’re going to love me after this.”

Makhmudov is happy to let Fury do the talking for the both of them. At the press conference later that afternoon, there is a moment where it looks like he might actually fall asleep. He’s not one for the circus, but toppling the ringmaster will alter the course of his life forever. 

“I need to win this fight,” Makhmudov said. “My whole life, everything I’ve ever done, has all brought me here. That’s why I need to beat him.”