At that face-off in London, Fury shoved Usyk – a move that infuriated the Ukrainian’s mother, Usyk has revealed.

The confrontation in Saudi Arabia, where Fury vs Usyk plays out on Saturday, left John bloodied, while Usyk’s teammate Stanislav Stepchuk appeared unfazed. John later apologised for the incident, while Tyson labelled his father a “silly c***”.

In an interview published by The Telegraph on Tuesday, John reflected on his life regrets, saying: “One thing I should have done is a lot more thinking before acting. [There’s] the obvious...”

Reports suggest that Fury is contracted to earn around 70 per cent of a total purse thought to be worth around $150m (£116m), with a clause stating Fury must donate £1m of his earnings to Ukraine amid its ongoing war against Russia.

While the final figure will not be known until after the fight, Fury’s US promoter Bob Arum has claimed that his fighter will earn more than $100m (£78m) from the showdown.

“If you told Tyson Fury he’s set to make $100m, he’d really get p***ed off because he thinks, and I think he’s right, that he’s going to make a lot more,” said Arum. “I don’t know the number, but it’s a lot more than $100m.”

Since losing his WBA, WBO and IBF titles to Usyk in September 2021 – and failing to regain them from the Ukrainian in August 2022 – Joshua has steadily rebuilt by compiling wins against Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius, Otto Wallin and Francis Ngannou.

hat is the main misconception among boxing fans, when they think about how fights are made? It is not a rhetorical question. Rather, it is one put to Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren, Ben Shalom and Frank Smith by The Independent, because for years, the predominant issue plaguing this form of pugilism has been a lack of big fights.

There are, of course, other issues, but fans’ main focus has always been on seeing the best fighters face their contemporaries, and that has frankly not happened enough in recent times. That dynamic is admittedly changing, with an injection of Saudi money taking rapid effect in the bloodstream of boxing, but even so, there are a few things that the sport’s most influential promoters would like to make clear.

So, what is the main misconception among boxing fans, when they think about how fights are made?

“That you just ring a fighter and go, ‘This is the date, this is your money, see you there,’” laughs Frank Smith, CEO of Matchroom Boxing. “I think fans don’t really understand the politics behind it, the arguments. ‘Well, I deserve this much if that person is getting that.’”

Wednesday 15 May

Open workouts, 6pm BST

Thursday 16 May

Final press conference, 6pm BST

Friday 17 May

Weigh-ins, 5pm BST

“I’m very nervous Usyk, please don’t beat me up on Saturday night! Please…extra please!” WBC champion Fury said.

“I predict that somebody’s 0 has got to go and it’s going to be that team over there, unfortunately for them.

In 1999, Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield in their rematch during an emotional night and fight on the edge of Las Vegas, in a place called Paradise.

The win after 12 hard, hard rounds by Lewis was viewed as justice for the drawn verdict with Holyfield eight months earlier in New York. That decision shocked the boxing world, the FBI took an interest, and some outrageous conspiracy theories emerged. In the end, it was just a bad decision.

However, it meant that the rematch became a global affair, a night when boxing had to get it right. The WBA, IBF and WBC heavyweight championship belts were on the line. Lewis was the WBC champion; Holyfield had the other two, and that is all that matters. It was all that mattered then.