There are moments in life where one door opens as another closes - from everyday mundanity to magical expressions, chance and fate are two sides of the same coin.
The 1998 romantic drama Sliding Doors, with Gwyneth Paltrow and John Hannah, perhaps best expresses this in the cultural lexicon. But sport is littered with such moments, too.
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When Tyson Fury was down on the canvas for the second time against Deontay Wilder, on this day six years ago, the Briton's heavyweight career appeared to hang by a thread.
In another world, the towering former world champion would have stayed down, floored by the heft of his opponent. In another world, he would have been at the end of his career.
But in this world, Fury rose from what appeared to be unconsciousness at the count of six by referee Jack Reiss. At nine, he was back on his feet and ready to finish the twelfth round.
It is a moment enshrined in the myth of a man who bids this month to be considered among the all-time greats, a figure who has dominated headlines for the best part of a decade.
When Fury returns to Saudi Arabia, bidding to avenge the lone loss of his career against Oleksandr Usyk, he may return to December 1, 2018, to draw on the memory of strength.
Here, as he bids for one more comeback, DAZN returns to the site of his most incredible performance as a modern-day Lazarus - and what it might tell us for his next bout too.
From the ashes...
(Getty Images)
Fury was the face of British boxing ten years ago. He had stopped Derek Chisora in the tenth round at ExCeL in London to earn his place as the mandatory WBO title challenger.
The Klitschko Era was waning at the top of the division. Wladimir Klitschko was still the king, without a loss since 2004, but the wins were not as easy as they once were.
Fury was bullish on his chances, boisterous across the fight week in Dusseldorf - and in November 2015, he made good on his promise with a stunning unanimous decision win.
Plans for an immediate rematch were straight in the pipeline, and a provisional date was made for July 2016. But Fury never made the fight - and it would never come to pass.
Struggles with depression, weight gain and charges from UK Anti-Doping took a major toll on the heavyweight, and the bout was indefinitely postponed after a sprained ankle.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in October that year, Fury was shockingly candid about his struggles, discussing manic depression and suicidal thoughts since he won the title.
"I've not been in a gym for months," he said. "I just don't want to live anymore. All the money in the world, fame and glory, means nothing if you're not happy. I hope I die every day.
"That's a bad thing to say when I've got three children and a lovely wife, isn't it? But I don't want to live anymore. If I could take me own life, I'd take it in a second."
Fury vacated his titles that same month after he was deemed medically unfit to fight, with the British Boxing Board of Control suspending his license a day later.
It would be almost another two years before he boxed again - and perhaps nobody, not even Fury himself, could foresee just what his return would mean for the divison.
...like a phoenix...
(Getty Images)
Bids to return with lower-wattage fights, including on the undercard of Josh Warrington's featherweight bout at Leeds's First Direct Arena in May 2017, were thwarted for Fury.
The BBBofC maintained their blockage of the star, and any return was kept effectively hamstrung before the outstanding UKAD charges were resolved in December that year.
In January 2018, Fury saw his suspension lifted and he made his return under Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions against former cruiserweight Sefer Seferi in June.
The latter retired on his stool four rounds in and Fury followed it up with a points victory over Francesco Pianeta in Belfast just two months later in August, moving to a 27-0 record.
The Gypsy King was back in the saddle. Wilder, WBC champion since before the Briton bested Klitschko, sat up and noticed a prize fish bigger than nearly any other in the pond.
Anthony Joshua may have stepped up to become the face of the division since Fury had been forced to step away, but a mandatory bout with Alexander Povetkin was in the way.
Fury was still the one for many. A man never stopped in the ring, a man no longer world champion only by forces outside of his control. Two unbeaten stars bidding to be the best.
There was history there too. Fury had promised a fight after Wilder had cleaned out Artur Szpilka in January 2016, stepping into the ring to issue a challenge which never came.
The contracts were quickly signed. The date was set for December 1. Wilder stepped into the ring after Fury beat Pianeta to further stoke the fires of interest across the world.
Finally, three years on from his historic win over Klitschko, the two would have the chance to settle a long-simmering score - and for Fury to seal a remarkable comeback.
...to the sky
(Esther Lin/Showtime)
Pre-match odds favoured Wilder. The Bronze Bomber had home advantage in America, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Fury had fought twice, but against mid-tier foes.
Time out of the ring too was clearly a factor. The former had mounted several defences against increasingly tougher foes. The latter had veered close to oblivion in the interim.
By simply stepping over the ropes and onto the canvas, there was a sense that Fury's return was a victory in itself - a testament to his willpower to ensure he had the final say.
But beyond that, expectations were that, even as a wild card in the pack of the heavyweight division, he would likely struggle to get the better of a supremely match-fit Wilder.
Pundits have written off The Gypsy King at their peril before. They did so again here. Fury stepped into the breach - and for eight towering rounds, filled it comfortably to boot.
There were smart jabs and deft feints, thrown gloves and head movement. Wilder, one of the great punchers of the modern era, strived to keep his balance during the early stages.
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The world title appeared to be heading across the Atlantic to Morecambe Bay until a flurry in the ninth dropped Fury - and yet, he was straight to his feet, pugnacious to a fault.
But it is the twelveth that lives in the memory. It is the defining image of the fight, one of modern boxing's most enduring snapshots, played out over a handful of seconds.
Wilder's left hook, an untamed beast of a blow, sent Fury crashing to the canvas. It appeared as if the home favourite had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat at the death.
The home crowd roared. Reiss stood above the fallen man, near-motionless on the floor at four. A twitch at five. The eyes open at six. He rises on eight. He stands on nine.
Wilder's expression - a mix of dumbfounded disbelief and bone-tired horror - looked practically lifted from a cartoon. Fury steadied himself. And the fight continued to the final bell.
A split-decision draw divided pundits in the aftermath, and Fury felt he had done enough to reclaim the belt. But there could be no questioning that he was now back at the top.
"I wanted more than anything tonight to show the world that it can be done," he said in the aftermath, spent and exhausted. "Anything is possible with the right mindset."
When he faces Usyk this month, those words - anything is possible - will echo in Fury's mind, along with the two hard-fought wins he subsequently scored over Wilder too.
But if there is one fight that defines the spirit of a fighter whose Hall of Fame status has long since been assured, it is this one - and it is one that will he return to for years to come.
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