Arslanbek Makhmudov's "objective" is to send Tyson Fury back into retirement "for real", says his promoter Camille Estephan.
Fury is preparing for a comeback fight against Makhmudov on Saturday April 11, with a venue to be confirmed.
The 37-year-old British star has posted regular videos on social media, vowing to dominate the heavyweight division, but the heavy-handed Makhmudov wants to ruin these ambitious plans with a humbling defeat.
His promoter Estephan told Your Site: "Our goal and objective is send him to retirement, this time for real!"
But Fury insists his preparations are on track ahead of his first fight since a rematch loss to Oleksandr Usyk last December.
Speaking on his official Instagram, Fury said: "Just finished a lovely three-mile run, nice and quick in the sun.
"Boxing later, probably do about 12-15 rounds of boxing. Minimum 1000 sit ups.
"Really going well. I can't ever remember being as happy as this. I'm in a very good place, I'm in a positive place. I'm very happy, I'm looking forward to my fight.
"April 11, 2026, let's go!"
Promoter Frank Warren has labelled Fury's comeback bout against Makhmudov as "tough".
"It's a tough, tough comeback fight for him," Warren told Your Site. "He has jumped straight back in after being out of the ring for nearly two years by the time the fight comes around.
"He has made it very clear he wants big fights this year, and this is a big guy with a good knockout ratio. It's a tough comeback fight for him, but if he comes through this, we'll see where we go."
Quizzed on who Fury would target after a victory, Warren added: "The intention was to build up and fight Anthony Joshua.
"But the tragedy of the car crash and the horrible consequences of that, losing two of his friends and two members of his team, you can't even be thinking about talking about fights to AJ.
"All we can focus on is what Tyson is doing, and that's fighting on April 11."
