If there was anything to typify Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury's long-winding rivalry, it was this. A quintessential scene of 'will they, won't they' anticipation-turned-frustration.
April 11, 2026. And yet it felt like the clock had been turned back five or six years as fatiguing hopes of an all-British showdown for the ages were fuelled and fizzled in the space of just hours, minutes even. Here we were again.
For a moment, it looked like the time had finally come. Boxing power-broker Turki Alalshikh - whose word tends to ring true these days - promised a "big surprise" while speaking at Tottenham ahead of Fury's comprehensive comeback victory over the powerful but severely-limited Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Joshua had been sat front row all night, appearing to film the majority of Fury's contest on his phone amid expectations he would join his counterpart in the ring for said "big surprise" after the final bell. Nope.
Upon being announced as winner, Fury grabbed the microphone before bellowing a Gladiator-esque battle challenge in the direction of a steely-faced Joshua, seemingly the only man still seated at ringside, slouched in his chair and unamused by the show. Were he to play along, a Roman Empire-style thumb gesture might have been a fitting reply in this writer's taste for fiction. For now, fiction is what it all remains.
Between them Fury and Alalshikh had tried and failed to convince both Joshua and Eddie Hearn to enter the ring; they would not abide.
They have been here before. We have been here before. And evidently neither wanted part of further theatre surrounding a fight still clearly yet to be agreed. Far from it.
Joshua dubbed Fury a 'clout-chaser', refusing to dance to the tune of the Gypsy King and instead insisting he remained the 'boss', the 'landlord' and the caller of shots - a sentiment I maybe ought to take into the next one-to-one meeting I have with my line manager.
Fury demanded a 'yes or no'. Joshua declined to give either. And so an all-too-familiar stand-off resumed between two fighters who believe they are the face of British boxing, which lies somewhere at the root of this problematic negotiation.
There would perhaps be something to admire about Joshua's resistance in the face of Fury, Alalshikh and the world publicly staring him down in wait of an answer. Sure, he could have stepped into the ring for a promotional face-off while eating some of Fury's wittiest verbal jabs for good measure, but by now he knows that means little.
It remains a fight reliant on the finest fine print of a contract. That Joshua could swat away at suggestions anything had been signed was indicative of just how far apart the two may remain.
Fury, who was fighting for the first time since his rematch defeat to Oleksandr Usyk in December 2024, had sought to utilise his main event spotlight and the eagerness of an accompanying Alalshikh to incite a narrative that might point to him as a chief influence in pushing for the bout.
More than once he urged Joshua to give 'fight fans' the clash they have desperately longed for, in turn creating a notion that Joshua was not delivering for the sport. Both want the fight; there is no doubt. But both want it on their terms, their say-so, and without relinquishing any ounce of power or stature.
The pair had looked on course to fight in 2021 before a judge ruled that Deontay Wilder was entitled to a trilogy clash against Fury. Both have since repeatedly underlined their desire to fight the other, only for nothing to come to fruition, each notably suffering back-to-back defeats to heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk in that period and with Fury having announced the fourth and fifth 'retirements' of his career, as much criticised by Joshua on Saturday night.
Fury later questioned what the 'hold up' was to a fight with Joshua. One answer is the extended period of recovery and healing Joshua deserves following December's car crash in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two close friends, Sina Ghami and Latif Ayodele. In this instance, he is absolutely right to dictate the timing of his activity, and Fury must know that.
The tragedy occurred just days after Joshua defeated YouTube star Jake Paul in Miami in his first fight since his knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024. And thereby comes the other factor in Joshua's potential need for the kind of warm-up fight Fury exercised against Makhmudov at the weekend.
While threatening with his looping overhand shots in the early exchanges, Makhmudov was predominantly a wild, messy and stagnant punch bag against which Fury teed off with ease behind his jab. Fury was relatively untroubled and let his superior boxing skills control the fight against an opponent whose gas tank blew early, but could not conjure the stoppage trainer SugarHill Steward called for in the corner. Dominant, yes. But it was a second gear performance that left Joshua unimpressed, so how much did anybody learn about Fury on Saturday? Time will tell.
Paul, despite his boxing exploits, does not represent the same kind of preparation as a seasoned Makhmudov, against whom Fury at least has 12 valuable rounds in the bank with which to build from. Joshua, whether he shows it or not in the public eye, is likely still in a grieving process and on Saturday alluded to prioritising life behind the scenes.
Wilder's name has re-entered the fold as another long-discussed potential opponent for Joshua after defeating Derek Chisora in his 50th professional bout at The O2 earlier this month. The Bronze Bomber is 40 years old and a shadow of his former destructive self, but still represents something of a risky 'warm-up' for Joshua, whose other stumbling block is a limited list of suitors that make sense at this stage of his career, particularly as far as safe and sellable tune-ups are concerned.
Were you to ask who the timing suits right now, you would say Fury. Hence the public call-out.
Of course, there is the question - does anybody still care? Are boxing fans still interested? Is it still worth it?
Regardless of age - Fury at 37 and Joshua at 36 - regardless of setbacks, regardless of form or the agonising wait, the boxing world does still care. Anybody who denies it would be lying.
Together they remain the most recognisable and coveted names in British boxing capable of selling out a stadium in seconds and breaking viewership records. Boxing was made to wait far too long to witness Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao and by the time they did, both - much like Fury and Joshua - were well beyond their prime, and yet it would still serve as the highest-grossing fight in history.
That isn't to say Fury and AJ will follow suit, but astronomical numbers beckon and so too a chapter British boxing history will remember. Spin it the other way, and the reality that neither is the fighter they once were paints a fight far more difficult to project or predict than might have been the case years ago. Straw-clutching? Maybe.
The walls have been closing in on the rivalry for some time. Their options elsewhere have disappeared and they are deep into the back nine of their respective, glittering, world title-clinching careers. But so many of the same issues continue to stand in the way.
