Amir Khan and Kell Brook finally faced off in a pre-fight press conference yesterday ahead of their much-anticipated February showdown.
The pair have swapped jibes and insults throughout their careers but a fight when either was at their peak never happened.
Now, 34-year-old Khan and Brook, 35, will swap jabs after finally agreeing to meet in Manchester on February 19.
Yesterday, the men had to be pulled apart at their first public meeting, held in Mayfair, to launch the grudge bout build-up.
The near two decades of back-and-forth between the fighters hasn't eased the animosity felt and Brook was first to get in with a dig. He said: "This has been going on for 17 years and even the negotiations have been unbelievably hard work but we have finally got it over the line.
“I am sick of people asking me when it is happening and now we have a date. February 19 will be when Amir Khan hits the deck for the final time.
“We have always been predicted to fight each other but he has always veered off and not given me respect, he has never acknowledged me and always ran away.
“Now he has nowhere else to run, this is the biggest money fight out there for him so that is why he wants it now.
“He is in cuckoo land and believes he is a celebrity in the jungle. He is getting knocked spark out. I will retire him.”
Bolton-born Khan was quick to hit back, dismissing his opponent's claims.
“I respect him because he has fought the big names, but I have never been scared of anyone," Khan told the press conference.
“In the last 10 years, I have lost to two of the best p4p fighters out there.
“I have never run from Kell, in the past, I didn't think he deserved it, but now I am ready to put him in his place. Now we will see how he backs the words up.
“I am coming levels down for this fight, I have fought the best and conquered America, but people want to see me punch him in the face.
“It is my time now to put him in his place. He goes on about my celebrity life, but my boxing skills and achievements got me there, he is so bitter about that.”
The welterweights have agreed to a catchweight bout, meaning a weight limit that does not adhere to the traditional limits for weight classes. The limit for this fight is 149lbs.
And Sheffield-man Brook revealed Khan is trying to play games with the weight agreed.
“He is a drama queen, he has a terrible ego, while I am a down-to-earth kid who wants to make the fight at almost any cost.
“I know what we have had to do to make this fight, bend over backwards, and I know this fight has only happened because of me.
If I go a pound over, it costs me £100,000. Every pound is £100,000 so I cannot afford to do it.
“It makes it interesting and exciting, but I am preparing for him now and waiting for this to get confirmed has put me in a bad way before."
Khan confirmed this and said: "The fight is at 149lbs because Kell Brook could not make 147lbs.
“If I had said no to the weight limit I would have got the blame again so I have allowed him that but there are extreme financial penalties if he misses weight.
“If he ends up over 149lbs there will be penalties because I am already letting him be the bigger man.”
It won't be a title fight, but what it will do is settle a very real grudge that has resided between these two boxers for most of the last two decades.