There was a point, at about 10:25pm on Saturday night, that Tyson Fury entered panic mode.
After a Wladimir Klitschko right hand sneaked through the hulking forearms of Anthony Joshua, the London 2012 gold medallist hit the canvas.
Fury, watching on from a training camp in Marbella, saw millions of potential fight pounds disappear before his very eyes as the prospect of two undefeated British heavyweights slugging it out for world titles seemed to be no more.
But Joshua returned to his feet, shook the cobwebs loose and dug deep to claim the biggest victory of his career to date in front of 90,000 roaring fight fans.
AJ CALL OUT: "@Tyson_Fury, where you at baby?!" 👀
REACTION: https://t.co/6DvO99v3ts
Brought to you by @beatsbydreUK https://t.co/UX5RNuFe50— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) April 29, 2017
The win sets up one of the most intriguing heavyweight showdowns in decades, with Fury’s name the first on Joshua’s lips after he put Klitschko away in the 11th round.
Fury is eager to provide an even sterner test of Joshua’s meteoric rise to the pinnacle of the fight game, and he insists that there’s no need for a tune-up fight.
“It was an excellent fight, very entertaining and enjoyable and I was screaming for ‘AJ’ to smash him,” Joshua told Sky Sports.
“I wonder what people would be saying today if Klitschko had done him in the sixth. I was screaming, pulling my hair out – or what little hair I’ve got left – because I was worried it would cost us millions!
“He showed a lot in that fight. He showed he can get dropped and come back, which is what champions are made of. He showed he can recover from taking big shots.
@anthonyfjoshua challenge accepted. We will give the world 🌎 the biggest fight in a 500 years. I will play with u. You are a boxers dream.
— TYSON FURY (@Tyson_Fury) April 29, 2017
“There’s only one fight out there, the biggest fight in the world and everyone knows that. It is the heavyweights, it is me and ‘AJ’, no one else.
“It is the only one the world wants to see and I am here, I am the lineal champion, I am still number one in the world and everybody knows that.
“We all saw [his career] had a life and death situation against Klitschko, but Klitschko couldn’t land a glove on me.
“Styles do make fights but I am sure I can beat ‘AJ’ with one arm tied behind my back.”
Last week Fury insisted that his dark days were behind him and that he was in the midst of shedding the weight that he’d gained in his time away from the ring.
On the comeback trail and sorry https://t.co/uItcDW34Gh
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 28, 2017
First Fury must have his licence renewed, a decision which will be made at a British Boxing Board of Control hearing next week.
The controversial fighter has not fought since claiming a unanimous decision over Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf in 2015 but Fury maintains he will be ready to return immediately against ‘AJ’.
“I don’t even need a warm-up if he wants this,” he added.
“I have been out of the ring as long as Klitschko but the difference is, I am not 41, I am 28.”
