BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Tyson Fury insists he is ready to face Deontay Wilder after only two fights on the comeback trail.
The English boxer cruised to a ten round points win (100-90) over Francesco Pianeta in front of 25,000 fans at Windsor Park before then squaring off with Wilder in the ring.
WBC world heavyweight titleholder Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) confirmed he would fight Fury next amid a pantomime face-off, although details of venue and date were not revealed.
Fury (27-0, 19 KOs), 30, only ended a two-and-a-half year absence in June, when he lost eight stones before stopping Sefer Seferi in four rounds.
As well as gaining weight, Fury had problems with alcohol, drugs and depression in his exile after out-pointing Wladimir Klitschko for three world titles in November 2015.
Despite his out-of-the-ring problems, lay-off and lack of action against top level opponents, the Manchester-based boxer feels ready for Wilder, who will make an eighth defense possibly on November 10 or 17 in Las Vegas.
"When I said I wanted four warm-up fights back I was a sloth of 27 stones, fat as a pig, drinking every day," Fury said at an entertaining press conference, which included singing.
"So in my mind I might have needed four fights but training for nine months and having two fights back-to-back I now know that I'm really ready.
"I didn't need as much time as I thought I did. My timing is there. My movement is there. My speed is back. Everything is how it should be. There's no need for two more warm-up fights, it would just be a waste of time.
"I've got great sparring and there's plenty of time to prepare.
"Going into the Klitschko fight [in November 2015], I had two fights beforehand: Dereck Chisora [November 2014] and Christian Hammer in February 2015. Ten months later I beat the reigning world heavyweight [champion] with one fight under my belt that year."
Fury, who weighed 18 stones 6 pounds for Pianeta (35-5-1, 21 KOs), plans on being 18 stones when he faces Wilder.
He will reportedly earn £10million from facing Wilder but insists his motivation is not money.
Instead, Fury is enjoying boxing again and looked in better shape against Pianeta, showing plenty of movement as he worked behind an effective jab with lots of feinting and slipping.
"I'm not going into this fight for the pay cheque," Fury said.
"Losing is not in my vocabulary. All I do is win, win, win. I would rather have no money and win the title than 10 billion.
"I got a good ten rounds under my belt which is what I needed. I shook some cobwebs offs, now I'm going to America to put on a show.
"I could've stood there and traded with him but I didn't need a one-round knockout. In an ideal world I could have done with another 10 or 12 round fight but it's not an ideal world and sometimes you just have to step up to the plate and rise to the occasion and that's what I do."
With his career back in the spotlight, Fury could not help remembering the lowest points of his exile from the sport.
"I know what life is like on the other side of having no hope and nothing," Fury said.
"But I also know what it is like being in a good place and the top is so much better than the bottom.
"I'm sat here in a great frame of mind and that is worth more than any money because at one stage I thought I was going to end up in a padded room, never mind being back boxing, I didn't think I was going to survive. I was on the verge of committing suicide."
The former champion showed some of the form that saw him beat Klitschko three years ago, but Pianeta is not world class. The Italy-born Germany-based boxer was stopped by Klitschko five years ago and has suffered stoppage defeats to Kevin Johnson and Ruslan Chagaev in the last two years.
But Fury is not a knockout artist and confidence is coursing through his veins as he believes his movement, jab and boxing brain will see him become a two-time world champion when he faces Wilder.
"If I didn't believe I could win this fight against Deontay Wilder, I would pack up," Fury said.
"I'm taking this fight because I know I can win. No matter who it is or how I do it, I always find a way. I've got a skeleton key for every door.
"Nothing is going to stop me from winning my belts back, nothing. I was not overlooking Francesco Pianeta but now I can work on a game plan for Mr Wilder.
"It will be the hardest fight I've ever had in my life because he's awkwardly effective and has dynamite in both hands. But apart from that I should win. It's going to be a jigsaw puzzle.
"It's very hard to land clean on me nowadays. I've been over before twice but I'm a different fighter now. I don't rush and walk straight on, I take my time, cool, calm, collected and calculated.
"I'm going to make him miss and make him pay. I think his style is tailor-made for mine -- awkward, wild swings -- and I believe I'm a better boxer than him technically."
Fury, who is from the gypsy community, plans a caravan holiday with his family before resuming training for Wilder.