The Mack is Back! Finally, ‘The Gypsy King’ will return to the ring this weekend after a two-and-a-half-year layoff.

The last Lineal heavyweight champion of the world makes his first step to coming back to regain the titles he never lost in the ring.

A couple of years older and wiser, the 29-year-old claims to be only just nearing his peak and refers to the other heavyweight champions as ‘sluggers’ (Deontay Wilder) and ‘wild punchers’ (Anthony Joshua).

TALE OF THE TAPE

Tyson Fury                  Sefer Seferi

Alias: The Gypsy King  Alias: The Real Deal

Age: 29                        Age: 39

Height: 6’9”                  Height: 5’10”

Fights: 25                     Fights: 28

Won: 25                       Won: 23

KO’s: 18                       KO’s: 7

Lost: 0                          Lost: 1

Drawn: 0                      Drawn: 0

KO %: 72%                  KO %: 88%

Rounds: 146                 Rounds: 86

Titles: 11                      Titles: 1

FORM

Tyson Fury last five fights:
WIN vs Wladimir Klitschko (64-3) – UD 12
WIN vs Christian Hammer (17-3) – RTD 8
WIN vs Dereck Chisora (20-4) – RTD 10
WIN vs Joey Abell (29-7) – TKO 4
WIN vs Steve Cunningham (25-5) – KO 7

Sefer Seferi last five fights:
WIN vs Laszlo Hubert (50-23-1) – KO 2
WIN vs Marcelo Ferreira dos Santos (22-10-1) – KO 5
LOSS vs Manuel Charr (29-4) – UD 10
WIN vs Laszlo Hubert (44-18-1) – TKO 2
WIN vs Radenko Kovac (2-6) – KO 1

The first step on the ladder to reach the other belt-holders is against career-cruiserweight Sefer Seferi at the 21,000-capacity Manchester Arena on Saturday June 9, live on BT Sport.

The former WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO and The Ring champion will tower over his Swiss opponent who steps up to heavyweight for only the second time in his 24-fight 11-year professional career.

The Macedonian-born Albanian currently residing in Switzerland fights in the UK for the first time but is used to travelling abroad having also fought in Macedonia, Kosovo, Austria, Germany and his native Switzerland.

Managed by Erol Ceylan, along with his older brother and former WBO European cruiserweight champion Nuri, Sefer has been sparring Agron Dzila (24-1-1) and former David Haye victim Arnold Gjergjaj (30-2) in preparations for Fury, which hardly inspires confidence.

In video clips in circulation, Fury looks fitter, quicker and sharper than ever before. To come back from such a dramatic weight-loss and desperate battle with depression is commendable and I hope that the media will give the talented champion the break and credit that he deserves.

He achieved the impossible against long-reigning champion Klitschko over in Germany, one of the biggest upsets and shock wins in modern-day boxing, and was placed in the same class as Bob Fitzsimmons and Lennox Lewis in doing so, and should be celebrated, not vilified.

Although his opponent is far from world-class, I can forgive Fury and Frank Warren for their pick for the first fight back from a seven-stone weight loss and 924 days ring absence.

Seferi, a three-time Swiss national amateur champion, reached 21 fights unbeaten in his paid career until he stepped up to heavyweight for the first time in September 2017 against Manuel Charr (29-4) with the vacant WBA International heavyweight title on the line. Seferi lost via unanimous decision but can take credit for taking the Syrian the distance who became a world champion in his next bout.

Despite taking a world-class fighter to the final bell, I don’t think he will fare so well against Fury who is considerably larger, taller and more powerful than Charr.

I expect Tyson to win very early on in the scheduled 10-round non-championship fight, possibly even within the first three-rounds. 14 of Fury’s fights have finished within the first five-rounds and I think that is the safest bet out there.