LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Tyson Fury said the deaths of two of long-time rival Anthony Joshua’s friends in a car crash in December prompted his return to boxing.

Fury will step back into the ring on 11 April after a 15-month absence to face Russian-born heavyweight Arslanbek Makhmudov in a bout at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The 37-year-old retired after his second successive loss to Oleksandr Usyk at the end of 2024 and went a calendar year without a fight before revealing his latest comeback on 4 January.

The announcement came a week after compatriot Joshua was involved in a car crash in Nigeria which killed his close friends Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele.

“Tomorrow might not ever come and I suppose the biggest turning point in this comeback for me was the tragedy that happened with Anthony Joshua,” Fury said on Monday.

“You should never put things off until tomorrow, or next year, or next week because tomorrow is not promised to nobody.”

Any plans for Fury and Joshua to finally fight in 2026 have been put on the back burner.

And Fury, a former two-time world heavyweight champion, claimed he has also returned to the ring to bring back some glamor to the sport.

“The truth of the matter is I came back for one reason only and that’s to make boxing great again,” Fury added.

“Since I’ve retired for the fifth time over a year ago, boxing for me has gone on a downward slope and it’s become quite boring.”