Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder is a huge title fight that could and should salvage the heavyweight division in America

The fight is arguably the best heavyweight title fight involving a dangerous, unbeaten American since Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield first met in the early Nineties

The Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder fight is on after just a few weeks of secret talks, ten rounds of boxing, the last drops of tropical storm Ernesto and declarations of intent from both men.

They will fight in November at a location in either Las Vegas or New York, Wilder’s WBC belt will be the main prize but Fury insists he delivers the lineal belt - as lunatic a concept as ever devised for the sport - because he beat Wladimir Klitschko, who at the time was the untouchable ruler.

Sadly, a strict linear route was broken in the Twenties, but that is a debate for another day and night and who cares? Lineal champion sounds classy and Big Wlad had dominated for a decade.

In Belfast on Saturday night, in the very eye of the storm’s wrath, both Wilder and Fury came face-to-face in the ring; Fury had just boxed pretty and essential rings round a largely static but brave Italian strongman called Francesco Pianeta and at ringside Wilder had led the applause. The American was just one of 24,000 people inside the stadium for a night of fighting joy under the ever darkening canopy of Ernesto, fresh and angry from the Atlantic Ocean.

A few minutes after Fury did his business it was the righteous turn of Belfast darling Carl Frampton to enter the ring. His reception might just be the loudest I have ever heard in all my years in the press pit at ringside. Frampton won easily in nine rounds and now fights Josh Warrington for the IBF featherweight title, probably in December.

Only Wilder and Fury could possibly upstage that announcement, by the way. Frampton and Warrington also had their moment face-to-face but it is hard for men of nine-stone and under 5.8 to follow the menace and humour (both genuine) of the Wilder and Fury clash. Fury probably weighed more than Frampton and Warrington combined.

When Fury and Wilder took possession of the ring, the pair circled warily, Fury swore, Wilder laughed and then they embraced, Fury sealing the fight with a cheeky kiss. Frank Warren, the promoter, was ringmaster as the pair met, watching with a smile at the end result of his creative alchemy. Warren put this fight together the old-fashioned way, with endless trans-Atlantic phone calls, demands, deals, screams and handshakes and not one Twitter rant.

The fight is arguably the best heavyweight title fight involving a dangerous, unbeaten American since Riddick Bowe and Evander Holyfield first met in the early Nineties. It could and should salvage the heavyweight division in America where the glory days of Mike Tyson, Bowe and Holyfield seem closer to the nights of Muhammad Ali’s exploits than the modern business.

“Wilder is a fighting man and I’m a fighting man,” said Fury. “I’m ready for this fight now and he’s brave enough to meet me. I’m not a hypocrite like other so-called champions. When I say I want a fight - I get the fight.”

The ‘hypocrite’ in question is undoubtedly Anthony Joshua, owner of the other heavyweight jewellery, and until a few weeks ago seemingly in thick negotiations to fight Wilder. That fight seemed like it was done and dusted and its collapse during the heatwave was sudden and total. Fury answered the call from Wilder and the fight opened up easily, according to the men structuring the deal. Joshua will be genuinely annoyed.

Tyson Fury is already preparing for his showdown with Deontay Wilder (Sportsfile via Getty)

It will be Fury’s third fight since a return to the ring at the start of the summer and he expects to shift another five or six pounds, which would mean he has lost close to nine stone in fat in about a year. On Saturday against the willing Pianeta there were genuine glimpses of the best, the trickiest and the most elusive Fury; only the very sharpest Fury has a chance against Wilder. The American is unbeaten in 40 and 39 of his victims have been bludgeoned, dropped, hurt and left in fleshy and blood-splattered piles on the canvas.

Perhaps Wilder has accepted the fight now, knowing that Fury will only get sharper and fitter and that is a sensible move. Fury had thought he needed four fights before a fight like Wilder, now he believes he is ready after just two fights and he could be right; it is a huge risk, but he certainly looked almost unrecognisable as the man in the Manchester ring two months ago in the comedy romp with Sefer Seferi.

It is clear boxing is very good for Fury and Fury is certainly very good for boxing.