Family betrayal and a bizarre day in London: Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua is finally off and runnin

LONDON — Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua were finally in the same room on Wednesday evening, staring eyeball to eyeball, bringing the curtain down on a chaotic opening press conference for their Dec. 11 heavyweight showdown in Cardiff, Wales.

Only, the chaos had surprisingly little to do with the two men who will actually be sharing the ring, for a rivalry that has been more than a decade in the making.

Instead, as has become something of a running theme whenever this fight gets within touching distance, it was the characters orbiting Fury and Joshua who provided the raised eyebrows at west London's British Airways ARC — turning the build-up to what could be one of the biggest heavyweight fights in British boxing history into a circus of its own.

Amid a constant barrage of heckles from the handful of fans allowed into the arena's upper tier, Turki Alalshikh continued his bizarre tirade against pop star Dua Lipa, Rick Reeno turned up in a Versace robe, and Max Kellerman appeared to poke the bear by asking Fury whether the version of himself that "starts to go a little nuts on the guy" was going to show up.

Fury didn't exactly oblige, and throughout the near 50-minute press conference instead kept it cordial with Joshua who, at times, he lavished with praise.

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"[Joshua's] been a role model and a poster boy for British boxing for years," Fury said. "I mostly find myself defending my arch rival to fans I meet on the street. I say to them, if you could achieve 10% of what this man's achieved, you'd be f***ing doing well."

Joshua was similarly respectful of Fury in riposte, laughing as "The Gypsy King" dabbled in some disarming self-deprication, likening himself to a blancmange as opposed to the Adonis-like build of Joshua. 

But there was room for one of Fury's infamous rallying cries toward the end, the 38-year-old egged on by his family and friends at the front of the venue.

"I'm going to come out, blast him out of there, it'll be a gunfight at the O.K. Corral. I'm not going to box, I'm going to throw down, I'll catch him, and when I do, it'll be curtains. That's it." 

Their faceoff went by without a hitch. Fury climbed onto his tip-toes and Joshua grabbed Fury's stomach jovially. Combining for 73 professional fights, both men are old hands under the bright lights of an opening press conference, and neither were going to crack, nor show all their cards still 10 weeks out.

But away from the noise of the main stage antics, the most telling information came from Joshua himself — perhaps an early flex; an early mind game. An admission that he is holding pocket aces. He told reporters that he would be training with Ben Davison and has been having regular talks with Tyson Fury's estranged uncle, Peter Fury.

Peter, of course, was the man in his nephew's corner when Fury dethroned Wladimir Klitschko and claimed that first world title back in 2015, while Davison took up the mantle years later, guiding Fury through his comeback and into that first, dramatic dance with Deontay Wilder.

"I speak to Peter Fury. He's willing to help me," Joshua said before taking to the stage. "And yeah, I'll speak to him [before December's fight]."

Asked if his uncle had given him any specific ideas ahead of their meeting, Joshua said: "Not about Fury but about our training and how I can approach the fight. This is where I can improve. Everybody's going to tell me how to win. But the most important person to listen to is myself at this point in my career."

Joshua continued explaining that his link-ups with both Davison and Peter Fury are to strengthen his own bows, rather than in an attempt to weaken Fury's. 

"It wasn't so much going to Ben and Peter because they have worked with Fury before", Joshua added. "The reason why I went with Ben is because he and his team pinpoint things — things leading up to a fight that I can execute and exploit. I believe that they will get me that one step closer to landing the perfect punch to pin Fury to the ground."

There are 72 days still to run before these two heavyweights touch gloves inside Cardiff's Principality Stadium, and the early signs are that Fury and Joshua mean business.

Sure, things might plunge into disorder over the coming weeks, but it would be a surprise if either fighter was at the center of it. 

After all, Fury and Joshua are the only ones we need in "the room where it happens."