CARDIFF, Wales -- As they stood atop the scales at Friday's weigh-in, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker both looked at ease, confident in their own lighter frames, chuckling in the face of pressure ahead of Saturday's heavyweight mega-fight in front of 78,000 here in Cardiff. A brass band had just led Joshua in, a haka greeted Parker. The show had come to town. But beneath these calm fronts lies desperation to hold on to their own status as undefeated world champions.
Smiling through the pressure has been a running theme this week. Just two days previous at the public workout, the slimmed-down Parker played up to his nearest and dearest ringside, at one point pausing his shadowboxing to wipe the thin veil of sweat from his forehead. He spoke of war, voice unwavering, smiling throughout.
Then came Joshua. St David's Hall arose as one, the 'Oh, Anthony Joshua' chant intensified, he danced and boxed to the beat of the crowd, with an unwavering smile all the while. This was his arena, they are his people; he held the crowd in his two giant fists which have won him all 20 of his professional fights. As he raised a paw, the crowd responded with immediate approval: the master of ceremonies, box-office act, darling of the crowd and chief puppeteer all wrapped into one towering superstar.
But something will give on Saturday evening. Only when one of the two loses this hefty mantle will we know their true character, or star appeal. Will their image and brand be able to progress? Joshua's is already secure, lose and he will come again, but could Parker just fall into the shadows? It is the wonderful unknown of having two undefeated heavyweight champions facing each other with the IBF, WBA and WBO titles on the line. As timeless announcer Michael Buffer said earlier in the week, "somebody's '0' has got to go."
There has been plenty of outside noise leading up to this fight. Parker's promoter David Higgins has enjoyed a tetchy repartee with counterpart Eddie Hearn, but it has been Hearn in control throughout. He has the star act and it was Higgins' task to persuade Joshua's camp to take the fight. They did it through taunting Joshua -- using footage of him being dropped -- talking up Parker's chin and then being in the right place at the right time. Some said it was disrespectful, others laughed, but it got the job done. Parker seemingly got under Joshua's skin, the first to manage that in his professional career.
Those taunts have been moved to the past; Joshua has already shaken Parker's hand despite previously saying he would not. Both now talk of unwavering respect. Hearn and Higgins have taken a backseat, despite a good-natured verbal sparring on Tuesday. But rivalry and boldness remain. You don't get boxing pantomime with Joshua, like you do with Tyson Fury. The spotlight is already on Joshua without needing japes to push a fight further. But when he does rise to bait, he treads the right side of confidence over arrogance. Ahead of his last fight, he said he would stop Carlos Takam in the 10th round. So it proved. He has called all four of his last fights correctly, with one round's grace. With Parker, he feels the business will be done in the ninth or 10th. Parker of course believes he will triumph but wouldn't go into the specifics of how, neither would his trainer Kevin Barry, but Parker still responded with equal bravado saying he was yet to decide how he will win Saturday.
Joshua knows about this pressure on the big stage. Marry his wins over Wladimir Klitschko and Takam and Saturday's bout with Parker and it means 250,000 folk have flocked to watch him in his last three fights at Wembley and in Cardiff (twice). And all at the age of 28, just 20 professional fights down.
He sees Saturday's fight as another part of his journey. Earlier in the week at another packed press conference at Sky Sports HQ -- again he had the onlookers in the palm of his hand -- he spoke of the inherent necessity he feels to win Saturday's fight. "Just because I'm the hunted, it doesn't mean I can put my feet up and relax," Joshua said. "I'm out there defending my throne on Saturday night."
And then came his perspective on where this fight fits into his boxing résumé, just 11 months after he stunned Klitschko with his 11th-round stoppage in London. "My future stops on Saturday, that's where I've got to look to and not really beyond that moment," Joshua said. "I have to stay focused on the job at task. The fear of losing keeps me motivated. The tables can turn quickly. One minute you're the man, the next minute you're not."
For Parker, Saturday will determine whether he is just happy to be here, or whether this calm demeanour underlies an unwavering confidence that he can upset the British superstar. He has already shot down any notion he is just here for a payday, instead talking about doing it for New Zealand and Samoa. While he will walk out to the noise of 78,000 voracious boxing fans under the Principality Stadium roof on Saturday night, back in Samoa the country will come to a standstill. It will be Easter Sunday, at about 12.30pm -- just after morning service -- when the country will tune in to see how their man does. He will be full of confidence, if his pre-fight talk is anything to go by. "He looks a little angry and tense," Parker said of Joshua. "I'm young, hungry, fit and strong. I've got my speed back and I'll show you on Saturday. Let's go to war."
The noise can now be silenced. Joshua has come in 17st 4lbs 2oz - a stone lighter than he was against Takam last time out -- while Parker is also leaner than his last fight, at 16st 12lbs 7oz. There is an emphasis on fitness, while Joshua -- who picked Klitschko's brains in the run up to this fight -- has focused on counter-punching and finesse. Parker's had his best ever training camp, Joshua has been ever focused, but come Saturday late evening, one will be experiencing a new emotion: defeat.
"Something's got to give," Hearn told ESPN. "And that's where you know you are going to get a great fight, because I think both guys will be there to win, both guys will be fighting 'til the end, and it's not like anyone's experienced that loss before, or how to quit in a fight, or anything like that. The only thing I can see in this fight is a brilliant fight between two excellent, undefeated heavyweight champions."
History has already been made ahead of Saturday as it will be the first time two current world heavyweight champions have met on British soil and, on a worldwide scale for the heavyweight division, it marks the first time in history that two reigning world champions with perfect records have met in the ring.
But by the final throes of the fight, both Joshua and Parker will want to hear those beautiful, perfection-approving two words. "And still..." Joshua is favourite, rightly so, but underestimate Parker at your peril. It now gets serious.