"It was early on in Tyson's professional career and he showed up, I was outside the gym, and he said he wanted to do 'three easy rounds.'

"So I said 'well, it's going to be a little bit harder, my lad's just won the ABA's, I've got the committee and a gym full of people in there and you want me to tell him to just do three easy rounds?' And then Tyson went 'bring it on, bring it on.'"

Those are the words of Sean Murphy - Anthony Joshua's first ever boxing coach, a man who put him on the path to stardom and one of few men to see the most lucrative sparring sessions in British boxing.

And to say Joshua wouldn't give him 'three easy rounds' would be putting things mildly.

While back in 2010, it may have seemed as innocuous as many sparring sessions, fast forward eight years and it endures as the only instance of British boxing's two biggest names ever exchanging leather.

Sean Murphy on Joshua and Fury sparring

Furthermore, it remains arguably the most anticipated match-up in heavyweight boxing ahead of Joshua's unification bout with Joseph Parker on Saturday.

The 'Gypsy King' no longer commands a heavyweight belt - but his lineal status makes a fight with Joshua going into the future simply lucrative. There would be no doubting that it would shatter attendance and pay-per-view records if ever they stepped in the ring together.

And putting your finger on who exactly would win is nigh on impossible, with that solitary sparring session remaining the only viable indicator.

Murphy continued to recall: "They sort of underestimated Joshua, they didn't really know much about it him, so he came out all lethargic in the first round. And Joshua has stuck it on him, he's caught him with a few good punches and Tyson put his hands on the ropes. So I said: 'You can't hold the ropes!'"

'Three easy rounds' and the professional Fury was already on the ropes after the first three minutes.

"I don't think he was expecting this young lad to be as powerful and as strong as he was," he continued.

Murphy believes Joshua won over three rounds

"It was a good experience for Joshua because after that first round, which he probably won, Tyson came out and he was talking a little bit. He was winding Joshua up and made him miss a bit.

"So I had a word with him after the second and he got on again with his boxing and he probably nicked the third round. It was a really good spar and he got a lot out of it."

Murphy would go onto reiterate that he thought Joshua won over the three rounds with Fury falling victim to his hubris in the early exchanges. Nevertheless, it was in all good humour with Murphy recalling the conversation between the two afterwards.

"There was a thing saying, that if anyone knocked him [Fury] down, he would give them his Rolex. So I said to Joshua: 'ask him if his Rolex is up for grabs tonight,' so Joshua said that - messing around - and he just started laughing," he reminisced.

"So I went: 'we nearly got it!' It was all in good fun, he was very respectful and thanked us for letting him train in the gym."

Only a handful of people saw that slugfest; millions would tune in for the real deal.

While there would likely be less respect and more on the line than a Rolex, the clash would be just as closely contested and not a single fight fan would want to miss it. It simply has to go down

William Hill enlisted the help of Sean Murphy, AJ’s first coach, to see if brand ambassador Robbie Savage could pack a punch ahead of Joshua’s fight against Joseph Parker on Saturday 31 March. William Hill won’t be beaten on round betting and you can back Joshua to win in the third round at 10/1. For all the best prices head to williamhill.com. Odds subject to change.