For years insults have been exchanged from a distance. Not just between the two fighters, but from their promoters too.

Here, though, all was calm. Fury and Joshua were both full of respect to each other. There was no tension in the air, no bad blood, no real back and forth.

Both appeared delighted to be involved, no great surprise considering the huge imminent boost to their bank balances.

The face-off could have taken place without the great mass of security that flocked onto the stage. It ended with Joshua tickling Fury as they broke into laughter.

Turki Alalshikh was ever-present at Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s press conference

AFP/Getty

The mic was handed on several occasions to Turki Alalshikh, who twice took the opportunity to launch a bizarre tirade at Dua Lipa. She reportedly turned down the offer of performing at the fight earlier this year.

Alalshikh's desire to do battle with the singer aside, only once did anything resembling a confrontation threaten to break out.

Even that was hard to take particularly seriously, considering it immediately followed host Max Kellerman asking when there would be any animosity between them.

Fury briefly played his part on request. Having turned around to look at the big screen behind, he pointed to the fact it was Fury vs Joshua and not the reverse.

"In the build-up to this fight, Eddie and AJ were talking about being the landlord and the boss, the governors," Fury said.

"I only see one don, Fury v AJ. I'm number one, son. On December 11th, you’re going to see Tyson Fury… you’re The Landlord coming to collect — and I ain’t f*****g paying!”

Joshua responded by claiming he had received a call last week, saying Fury would pull out of the fight if his name was not first.

Fury's response? "B******t."

Otherwise it was as friendly as could be. Both spoke of inspiring the next generation and of this being the "icing on the cake" of careers that have changed British boxing.

All smiles: Anthony Joshua was relaxed and charismatic at his pre-fight press conference

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Joshua, in particular, looked at ease. He had the majority of the fans inside the room behind him and joked with those who heckled for Fury.

Fury vowed: "I tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to come out and blast him out. I'm going to throw down. I'm going to catch him and it'll be curtains."

"We love it," was the response from Joshua. "That's the energy that we want. There is nothing else I expect from this man."

Fury offered to share a pint with Joshua after the fight, regardless of the result. "I don't know if I can trust you," Joshua laughed.

The pair will now go their separate ways to continue their training camps. An added subplot is the revelation Joshua has been consulting Fury's uncle Peter, using him for advice on how to approach the fight. Joshua will also have Ben Davison, Fury's former trainer, back in his corner.

If Fury does have any ill-feeling towards those no longer on his team, there was no sign of it at this press conference.

Once upon a time, this would have been a very different occasion. Had they met in their prime, the fight would have been legacy-defining. The jeopardy of that would have fostered a far colder atmosphere.

Not now. Both have nowhere else to go and that has brought them together. It is a marriage of convenience and the happy couple have hit the jackpot.