Tyson Fury: Anthony Joshua's car accident motivated boxing comeback

Former two-time world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury said "a tragedy that happened with Anthony Joshua" influenced his decision to come out of retirement for the fifth time.

Fury told reporters at a press conference Monday in London that he was on vacation with his family when he heard the news of the Dec. 29 car accident near Lagos, Nigeria, that injured Joshua and caused the deaths of Joshua's close friends, strength and conditioning coach Sina Ghami and trainer Latif Ayodele.

"I thought: ‘You know what, life is very, very short and very precious and very fragile,'" Fury said Monday. "And anything could happen at any given moment, and you should never put things off until tomorrow or next year or next week, because tomorrow is not promised to nobody."

Joshua, 36, also a former world heavyweight champion, had knocked out influencer Jake Paul in the sixth round of a fight in Miami just days before the accident.

"So we have to live for today, and me, living for that day, I made my mind up there and then that I'm gonna come back to boxing -- because it's something that I love and that I'm passionate about and that I've always been in love with," Fury said. "And there is no tomorrow to put it off to, so that's why I'm back today: for this big fight."

Fury's return to the boxing ring is scheduled for April 11 against Arslanbek Makhmudov at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

A 37-year-old native of Manchester, England, Fury hasn't fought since losing back-to-back matches in 2024. He lost his title belts in a split decision against Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk that May in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, then dropped a rematch to Usyk in a unanimous decision at the same venue seven months later.

Those were the first two career defeats for Fury (34-2-1).

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was the site of Fury's last title defense, on Dec. 3, 2022, against fellow Briton Derek Chisora. Fury won his next fight, vs. former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, in Riyadh on Oct. 28, 2023, before taking the two defeats the following year.

The Fury-Makhmudov fight will be shown on Netflix.