Anthony Joshua is sitting in Saudi Arabia almost exactly ten years after winning his Olympic gold medal in London and is thinking about how to keep the brilliance from fading into the desert.
British boxing has had a revival as a result of Joshua's journey from August 2012 to August 2022.
In a rematch against Oleksandr Usyk, the Ukrainian war hero who stole his world heavyweight championships by sensation 11 months ago, he will be out for personal retribution on Saturday.
Many worry that if they don't, the closing bracket may be applied to this two-time world heavyweight champion's career.
Joshua, 32, refuses to countenance that possibility. But the passage of time does prey on his mind. “Can you believe it? Ten years,” he said. “Where’s the time gone? I didn’t understand it all back then. But I’ve been learning ever since.”
He added: “If I’d known then what I know after losing to Oleksandr I would have trained harder for our first fight.
“Now I’m ready for this one. But there was never a grand plan. I’ve taken each step as it’s come. Thinking about it and then doing it. I’ve thought about this fight. I’m motivated.”
If he needs a confidence boost, then Eddie Hearn’s the man to give it.
Joshua’s Matchroom promoter is never backward in coming forward for his fighters and, as he embarked for Saudi Arabia with doubts swirling around his poster boy’s prospects of regaining his world heavyweight titles here on Saturday night, Hearn was as positive as ever.