Boxing News 24

The Stadium Test

Four years ago, Fury fought Derek Chisora at the same stadium and drew 59,789 fans. It was not a complete sellout, but it was close enough to feel like one. At that time Fury still held a title, still looked fresh, and still carried the sense that his run had not yet peaked. This is a different stage of the career.

He is 37. He has not fought since 2024. The Usyk losses changed the tone around him. The unbeaten aura is gone. The conversation is no longer about dominance. It is about whether the engine still runs the same. Tottenham is not a soft landing for that kind of comeback.

An arena would have lowered the risk and kept expectations manageable. Instead, Fury and his team chose scale again. That choice signals confidence that the public will separate two defeats from long-term appeal.

The event is promoted by The Ring and will stream globally on Netflix, which places the fight on a platform built for reach rather than pay-per-view insulation. Everything about the event shows this is being treated as a major occasion, not a cautious return.

Makhmudov almost feels secondary here. He is a heavy puncher and a legitimate risk, but this fight is less about matchmaking intrigue and more about market proof. The first verdict will not come from judges. It will come from the turnstiles.

Proving He Still Draws

Heavyweight boxing runs on perception as much as performance. A packed stadium creates authority. Empty sections create doubt. Cameras at that size do not hide hesitation.

The Chisora fight drew nearly 60,000 when Fury was riding high. That number now becomes a quiet benchmark. Match it, and the comeback feels real again. Fall short, and questions grow louder before the opening bell even rings.

The press conference on February 16 will offer talking points. The fight on April 11 will reveal how much timing and reflex remain. The weeks between now and then may reveal something just as important.

If 60,000 still show up for a Fury coming off consecutive defeats, the Fury brand remains intact. If they hesitate, the return begins under pressure before a punch is thrown.

The stadium lights make everything visible. A full crowd confirms Fury still draws at the highest level, while empty sections will be noticed immediately. Netflix streaming this to a global audience increases the exposure because far more people will see it than a traditional pay-per-view broadcast.

The cameras will show the crowd clearly, and there will be no way to disguise a weak turnout or a fading presence. Fury can remind people why he reached this level, but he also accepts that decline, if it appears, will be seen by everyone.

April 11 is a headcount. Headcounts do not lie.

The bruised and battered-looking former WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billiam-Smith (21-2, 13 KOs) outfought the tough American Brandon Glanton (20-3, 13 KOs), defeating him by a 12-round unanimous decision in a contest that appeared razor-close at the end on Saturday night at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. This fight should have been the co-feature on tonight’s card because, on paper, it was a better fight than the others.

(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)

Early Onslaught

Glanton, 33, stayed on top of Billiam-Smith early in the fight, connecting with short punches to the head and body of the former champion. The physical strength of Glanton bothered Billiam-Smith, as he wasn’t strong enough to deal with his wrestling tactics.

As early as the first round, Chris looked exhausted, like he’d gone an entire fight, and his eyes were showing swelling from the hard punches. I had Glanton up 4-2 after six rounds. He was beating the stuffing out of Billiam-Smith and not allowing him to land the way he wanted.

The scores were 116-113, 116-112, and 116-112. I had it for Billiam-Smith 115-113. He won but just barely. Glanton’s pressure and hard punches were a pure nightmare for him, especially in the 12th round when he was going for the knockout. He had the former champ on the run, trying to survive.

In the fifth, Glanton was tagged with a right that whiplashed his head around. It looked like he was in danger of going down, but he stayed up somehow. Billiam-Smith came back strong in round six, nailing Glanton with a right hand, causing him to lose his footing for a second. It’s unclear if that was from the punch or the slippery ring. Either way, it was a hard shot that Billiam-Smith had hit him with.

Billiam-Smith looked like he got the better of the action in rounds 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. Glanton took most of the first six and then came back strong in round twelve, landing the much harder shots against a tired-looking Billiam-Smith.

Not Convincing

This was not the kind of performance that Billiam-Smith needed to show that he’s come back from his loss to Gilberto ‘Zurdo’ Ramirez last November. He looked like he was on his way to being knocked out by Glanton early tonight, and again, he appeared to have lost most of the first six.

Chris Eubank Jr. wordlessly showed off his cooking skills today, whipping up an omelette on video to give Conor Benn some grief ahead of their headliner battle in 11 days, live on DAZN PPV on April 26th at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England.

Eubank Jr. (34-3, 25 KOs) is trying to stir up anger in the hot-headed Benn (23-0, 14 KOs), who is known for having a short fuse. Getting the ultra-touchy Benn angry is just too easy. At the kick-off press conference, he looked like he needed treatment by the NHS after being egged.

When you got an emotional fighter like Benn inside the ring, it’s child’s play for a fighter like Eubank Jr, who thrives on primitive sluggers. You need to be under control to have any chance of beating Chris Jr. Benn’s explosive outbursts and difficulty controlling his emotions will make him easy work for a thinking fighter like Eubank Jr.

Benn’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, is guaranteeing a victory for him. He says Benn will knock out Eubank Jr within four rounds, but not many fans are in agreement with him. This is a big step up for Conor from the low-level opposition that he’s been matched against his entire career, and he doesn’t have the experience for this kind of fighter. Moreover, Benn’s inactivity is another reason why he’s not likely to do well.

Hearn Guarantees Victory

“Let me tell you about Conor Benn and his training camp. I have never witnessed anyone work so hard as Conor Benn in training camp,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about the preparation that Benn has put in for his fight against Chris Eubank Jr.

“If Conor Benn loses, and I don’t believe he will, you can look at yourself in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve done absolutely everything that I can to win this fight,’ and he will win this fight. He will knock Chris Eubank out inside four rounds. That is my prediction,” said Hearn.