Even during his brief hiatus, Fury remained the ghost at every heavyweight feast.
Promoters, broadcasters and rivals all spoke as though he remained in the room.
In north London on Saturday, he was back to his familiarly unpredictable self.
There was an emotional tribute to the late Ricky Hatton, plus moments where Fury appeared to admire his own work mid-fight, and then the other side of his persona – the man who goes on the offensive verbally.
In many ways, boxing missed him and the timing of Fury’s return has been deliberate.
Hours after his win, season two of At Home with the Furys lands on Netflix. By tying boxing to a platform of that scale, the sport has regained a level of mainstream exposure it has not enjoyed since the terrestrial boom of the 1990s.
The streaming platform – with its 325 million global subscribers – will release viewing figures soon, but the Makhmudov match-up could prove to have been one of the most-watched boxing fights in years in the UK.
There would be even greater clamour for Fury v Joshua.
Possible venues are already being discussed. Croke Park, with its 80,000-plus capacity, has emerged as a leading contender.
It would be an unusual setting for the biggest fight in British boxing history – a Dublin stage for an English rivalry.
But wherever it takes place, the location now feels almost secondary. The perfect moment may have passed, yet the fascination refuses to disappear.
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