The road to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua is officially underway!
The two British heavyweight behemoths launched the countdown to fight night at a packed out press conference in London on Wednesday evening, both promising to further cement their names into the sport's history books at Cardiff's Principality Stadium in December.
In what transpired to be a relatively calm and mild-mannered, if at times feisty, procession, the two heavyweights spoke of their admiration for one another whilst also vowing to leave no stone unturned in their quest for glory in 10 weeks time.
Read every word that was said by Fury and Joshua during the 60 minute long press conference below...
Every word said by Tyson Fury at Wednesday's press conference
on Anthony Joshua...
"This man is a two-time heavyweight world champion, Olympic gold medallist and he has been a role model and a poster boy for British boxing for years.
"I mostly find myself defending my arch rival to fans I meet in the street. If you could achieve 10 percent of what this man has achieve, you'd be doing well.
"That aside, we're here to fight and fight we will, and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
on sparring Anthony Joshua while he was an amateur...
"I've sparred a lot of amateur boxers in my time and I've been very complimentary to every single one of them.
"But AJ was in that ring, he knows what happened. He sparred three or four rounds and then he got out and I sparred his mate.
"There was also thing about a Rolex watch. If anyone could drop me, they would get a Rolex watch. Guess what, I left that building with a Rolex on."
on whether the fight is taking place too late...
"Is it f*** too late! It has been 10 years in the making.
"The rise has been phenomenal for both fighters - we've both had our ups and down - and we arrive at this moment.
"Is it too late? Is it f*** too late. It's the icing on the cake of two great careers, to throw down in front of 80,000 people, and may the best man win.
"Let's go out f****** swinging."
on how big this fight will be...
"This is the biggest fight of today in the biggest division. We can only be the biggest of our time and our generation.
"Me and AJ are going to go there and throw down. It’s an unbelievable event, because it’s been simmering nicely for a decade and a half.
"To both be from the same country, dominating, we’ve had our ups and downs, and finally now near the end of it all, we get to fight each other.
"Everyone is going to be there and everyone is going to want to be there even more.
As a boxing fan, this is the fight I would want to see more than any other one out there -- it’s a global event."
on his strategy to win the fight...
"I'm going to come out and I'm going to blast him out there.
"It will gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the best man is going to win, because I'm not going to run way and I'm not going to box. I'm going to throw down!
"From what I'm seeing, I'm going to catch him and - when I do - it's going to be curtains."
on the physical differences between himself and Anthony Joshua...
"From a little kid all I ever wanted to do was be a fighter and world champion. I got an opportunity and seized the moment.
"I was the most unlikely kid to be a world champion. Fat, gangly. I always push though whenever the odds are stacked against me for many different reasons.
"I’m living proof that no matter what build you are, where you are from, you’re background, you can achieve. I’m bald, fat, slow. At the end of the day, I get it done.
"This guy here is made of marble, but every time he gets cracked on the jaw, he falls over! I'm built like a blancmange and he’s built like an adonis, but when I land my fist on his jaw, he will drop to the floor like a sack of s***!
"You can’t put muscles on a tash. When I crack him, he’s going down!"
on who is the a-side of the fight...
"In the build-up to this fight, Eddie and AJ were talking about landlords and being the boss and being the Guvnor and the rent man and all that.
"When I look behind me, I only see one Don and that's Fury vs AJ. Now you've come to get the rent and I ain't f***ing paying, because I'm number one.
"I don't make a big thing about all that, but we're going to walk out seeing Tyson Fury versus his opponent Anthony Joshua - an old dosser who works for me."
Every word said by Anthony Joshua at Wednesday's press conference
on that sparring sessions vs Tyson Fury...
"He [Fury] left the ring with his Rolex watch, but he also left it with a black eye! I can’t remember it, it was so many years ago.
"He spoke about it since. It wasn’t me. It was just another day. I found my calling.
"He went online and spoke about it, for me I didn’t take much away from it. Sparring is sparring, and he knows that.
"It’s all about fight night now."
on how he will beat Tyson Fury...
"I feel fresh. I feel very excited about this opportunity to work again.
"I thank my team and Eddie Hearn to continually present me opportunities to fight. I’m happy and grateful.
"I don’t know what it is, but I’ve just got something in me.
"When I walked into a gym at 18, three years later I was boxing for Britain at the Olympics. Three years after that I was a world champion. Boxing for me is spirit vs spirit, man vs man.
"Ngannou wanted to impose his will, but I wanted to stronger.
"December the 11th, I’m willing to take and take punch after punch and keep moving forward. Every fight has it challenges and I will keep pushing forward to get that victory."
on whether he can knock out Tyson Fury...
"Only god can answer that but I'm willing to take and take punch after punch and keep moving forward, until my hands are raised.
"I'm looking forward to it and I know it's going to be difficult, not in the sense that I'm not capable, but I know every fight has its challenges.
"I'm looking forward to pushing forward to get this victory."
on Tyson Fury's gameplan...
"This is the energy that we want.
"There's nothing else I'd expect from this man than him to say he's going to render me unconscious and do everything he can to stick me to the canvas.
"This is what is going to keep me running, this what is going to keep me sparring and this is going to keep me doing those extra rounds in the gym."
on whether he does have a glass jaw, as claimed by Tyson Fury...
"People have their views and views are respected, but that's their opinion.
"I can only listen to myself and nobody knows more about boxing than me. I'm great, I'm good.
"I've been from gym to gym and been from coach to coach and I can honestly say I've learned so much.
"I'm going to take everything I've learned into this fight."
on why Tyson Fury's name is first on the promotion...
"I got a phone call the other night and they said 'do you mind if Fury's name goes first, because he's unwilling to sign unless he does'."
Tyson Fury responds:
"B******! B******! B******! Behind the scenes, you've been crying about little girls over A-sides and B-sides. I want this, I want that!
"You have tried everything to get out of this fight, every move in the book. And now I've checkmated you!"
