LONDON -- It might be cordial between heavyweight world titleholder Anthony Joshua and former champion Wladimir Klitschko ahead of Saturday's fight, but Wladimir is more used to seeing a different side of British boxing.
Wladimir and his elder brother Vitali -- also a former world heavyweight champion and now retired -- have a long and mostly acrimonious relationship with British fighters.
Vitali first boxed in England when he visited London and took the WBO world heavyweight title from Herbie Hide at the London Arena in June 1999.
It gave the siblings a taste of what was to come with U.K. fighters. At the prefight news conference, a furious Hide turned over a table and chairs to get at British rival Danny Williams.
Williams was at the presser because he had been sparring with Hide (he wasn't on the undercard) and was part of promoter Frank Warren's stable. Williams said at the news conference that he had floored Hide in sparring and Hide went crazy.
Klitschko looked on in amazement, as he would 13 years later when Britons David Haye and Dereck Chisora brawled at a postfight press conference in Germany.
Earlier that week, Hide hijacked a press event with Klitschko and demanded they settle their business there and then.
Vitali was too big for Hide, who lasted only two rounds, and the Ukrainian was crowned world champion in his 25th professional fight, all stoppage wins. An estimated 100,000 people followed the fight in Kiev, Ukraine via television and big screens around the city to watch their national hero give Hide a hiding, and there were about a tenth of that amount at the London Arena -- including Wladimir -- to see the the start of the Klitschko era of dominance.
Four years later, and without the WBO belt, Vitali stepped in at late notice to challenge Lennox Lewis -- regarded as the division's No. 1 -- in Los Angeles. Lewis had claimed he could have Vitali for breakfast and Wladimir for lunch, but was relieved to emerge with a sixth-round TKO win. It was the London-born Lewis' last fight, and Vitali was ahead on the scorecards when he was stopped because of cuts that required over 60 stitches.
Despite years of pleading, Lewis never gave Vitali a rematch and stayed retired.
Vitali had to make do with fighting Londoner Williams in 2004. Williams had earned his shot at Vitali, now WBC world champion, with a shock stoppage of one-time baddest man on the planet Mike Tyson. But, against Klitschko, Williams was badly outclassed. Bravely, Williams lasted until the eighth round after a series of knockdowns.
Another Briton with whom Vitali and Wladimir were well-acquainted was Michael Sprott, who held British and European titles but never challenged for world belts. Sprott was a regular sparring partner at the Klitschkos' training base at a luxury hotel in the Austrian mountains.
Sprott was one of the sparring partners Wladimir used for his 2011 fight with David Haye, who succeeded in irritating both brothers, though he didn't beat either of them.
Haye first introduced himself to Klitschko on an escalator in London and eventually talked himself into fighting the world champion. But the first time they were due to meet, Haye pulled out with an injury in 2009. Vitali and Haye then scuffled at a restaurant during talks about facing each other before the fight with Wladimir was rescheduled for July 2011. In the buildup, Haye angered the brothers by wearing a T-shirt that showed him decapitating them both. Klitschko had the last laugh, winning comfortably on points, and Haye was derided for blaming defeat on an injured little toe.
But it was not the last the Klitschkos saw of Haye, whose antics seemed tame compared to what fellow Londoner Dereck Chisora did when he visited Munich to challenge Vitali for his WBC belt in February 2012.
Chisora slapped the champion across the face amid chaotic scenes at the weigh-in. Worse was to come, as Chisora spat water in Wladimir's face while in the ring moments before he was about to fight Vitali. Chisora was upset with Wladimir for twice pulling out of fights, and a year later the two had to be separated at a Spanish nightclub.
After Chisora lost on points to Vitali, Chisora and Haye brawled at a news conference and were investigated by German police. Vitali and Wladimir looked on amused as the Britons rolled around the room and shouted insults at each other.
Wladimir then became the target for verbal abuse from another British boxer -- Tyson Fury. The Briton called Klitschko a number of things, "Bitchko" and "robot" among them. Fury turned up as Batman to one news conference and went on to record a major upset when his mobility and boxing earned a points win over IBF-WBA-WBO world champion Klitschko in Dusseldorf in November 2015. It ended Klitschko's nine-and-a-half year reign, but it was not the end of his rivalry with Fury.
A rematch was agreed to but never happened, much to Wladimir's frustration, as Fury twice pulled out. After the second time, Fury gave up the WBA and WBO belts and has not fought since, citing mental health problems.
It means Wladimir will return to Britain, for the first time in 17 years, to try to regain two of his old belts against Joshua.
Wladimir is the better-known of the Ukrainian brothers to British audiences, and even appeared on a BBC television morning show watched by millions after silencing Haye. Wladimir first boxed in Britain on the undercard of Lewis' WBC-IBF world title defence against Frans Botha at London Arena in July 2000.
It was far from a complete performance by Wladimir, then 24, who was still learning his trade. He floored Monte Barrett in the opening round but could not stop his American opponent until the seventh round, when Wladimir produced three knockdowns. Klitschko was 23 pounds heavier than Barrett but did not look ready for Lewis.
Wladimir will be hoping for a better performance this time in London, where he can expect to encounter none of the trash talk the Klitschkos have previously heard from British opponents.