But you go outside now and people are pulling swords out. You've got little men wanting to be big men but they can't, so they pull out a gun and let five bullets go instead." Throw in Fury's father, John, and his retinue of friends, who spent the entire news conference goading their superhero on - if you will pardon the pun - and it all made for a rather unedifying spectacle. Tale of the tape The 25-year-old was supposed to have fought fellow Briton David Haye last September, only for the former world champion to pull out a week before the bout with a cut eye. The bout was rescheduled for February, only for Haye to announce his retirement last November, citing a shoulder injury. The crowning of Fury will be seen by many as yet more evidence of how low the heavyweight division has fallen. Often uncouth, often outrageous, often embarrassing, Fury does not possess the grace they like to see in a champion. They may have 30 or 40 years on me but the amount of time I spend studying the sport, my fighters, the opponents, it's unrivalled work."

And Fury made it look simple. Making full use of his superior reach and demonstrating excellent mobility and head movement, the challenger was a conundrum that Klitschko never even came close to solving. Wednesday's news conference began with the master of ceremonies welcoming the assembled media "to this rather tranquil part of west London". Five minutes later, Fury, dressed as Batman, was rolling about on the floor with a man dressed as The Joker. Wallin, who lost for the first time in 21 outings, was seen as an easy night's work on Fury's route to a rematch with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, but the Swede's come-forward tactics delivered a true scrap. Rarely has Fury looked so beat up and bruised, with blood dripping from his forehead, nose and mouth. As he sat on his stool before the ninth he had a look of confusion on his face – and perhaps even realisation that his unbeaten record might be toppled by a man who had never boxed professionally before. If I had my way, the lot [Tyson's team] would be gone. If they keep that team that will be his career [gone]."Speaking to the 5 Live Boxing podcast, Davison said: "I feel like the level of coaching is poor in this country. They're lazy - that's the reality of it. I outwork them - that's the reality of it. In that time Davison helped mastermind Fury's return from depression and obesity to the summit of the heavyweight division; one of the reasons the pair have remained close despite parting company, and why Davison will be in attendance in Las Vegas this weekend. Klitschko glowered and then he smirked. But only, you suspected, because he didn't want to come across as a bit of a killjoy. Both have repeatedly spoken of a rematch, which, if you listen to the Briton, is slated for 22 February. We started to get a lot of positive tests end of November and beginning of December. After the weekend of 18-19 December it went sky high. At that point I knew we had an issue," Smith said.

If Tyson Fury feels a few nervous flutters as he walks into the MGM Grand Garden arena on Saturday night for his momentous rematch with Deontay Wilder, a glance at the VIP ringside seats should be enough to settle them. Sitting there will be Ben Davison, the trainer from whom he split in December after two wildly successful years. When the cuts heal, this will have further developed his engine and ring craft - and ultimately done him no harm at all. What now for Fury? Having boxed at amateur level, Davison worked with two-weight champion Billy Joe Saunders in 2016 before being introduced to Tyson Fury. And Fury, too, deserves plaudits as he showed an orthodox stance, southpaw stance, hit and move tactics, and, ultimately, immense grit in his fifth bout since a 30-month spell out of the sport. Not for the first time in recent memory, he served up a compelling watch in testing circumstances. Such behaviour demeans boxing, but boxing has been demeaning itself for years. Fury calling an opponent boring and dismissing his previous opponents as "peasants from Poland" isn't pleasant. But Muhammad Ali calling Joe Frazier an "Uncle Tom" and a "gorilla" was less excusable and far more hurtful.

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Doing controversial things in life is what you'll be remembered for, not for how kind or how nice you were. People think of Mike Tyson and they don't think 'youngest heavyweight world champion ever', they think of him raping someone, biting someone's ear off, being the baddest man on the planet. Wilder may feel Fury's scare in Las Vegas shows he can get at his rival if they meet again. Team Fury will undoubtedly think their man is in far better shape now than he was in their Los Angeles thriller. Chris Eubank Jr's all-British middleweight bout with Liam Williams was scheduled for Cardiff on 29 January but is set to be moved to 5 February. During November we had 40 shows, the most we've ever done, and 27 shows in December. To be honest, hand on heart, we limped across the line."