A part of every ardent boxing fan which dies when fights like David Haye versus Tony Bellew happen.
Comfort can be found in the form of casual fans, at least 600,000 of whom parted with €25 for last night's Sky Sports Box Office pay-per-view circus, declaring themselves entertained having indulged, for weeks, in the chicanery of the big fight build-up, and the rather extraordinary contest which subsequently unfolded.
But then comes the post-fight embrace. 'Isn't it great to see such respect between these two great warriors after all that was said in the build-up,' asks Adam Smith, or whoever happens to be on Sky commentary duty. Perhaps not when they're arm-in-arm for about half an hour trying to force a rematch down our throats, the rest of us think, as we cast our minds back to what at the time seemed like a palpable hatred between two entertaining opportunists.
Football journalist Mark Ogden summed it up quite succinctly when he tweeted: "Sky talking like it was Hagler v Hearns. Ended up being one man taking five rounds to beat a man with one leg..."
That's certainly one way of looking at it, but the bottom line is that the demand for such 'grudge matches' has never been higher. David Haye is a clown, and hasn't had a significant fight since the summer of 2012. Tony Bellew is a reformed clown but, despite what he might believe after last night, isn't a heavyweight. There was no title on the line for either fighter, and yet 19,000 tickets for Haye-Bellew sold out in 15 seconds. A rematch of an entirely pointless scrap could now arguably fill Wembley.
Amidst the somewhat inexplicable London madness, relative normality sprung in the form of Katie Taylor.
Leading up to her third professional bout, the line from the Irish sports media's contrarian department dictated that we shouldn't go overboard with congratulatory platitudes should Taylor, one of the greatest amateur fighters in boxing history, emerge victorious over journeywoman Monica Gentili, an Italian with six defeats in twelve fights. Many viewed the fight as a backwards step considering the calibre of her previous foe, Viviane Obenauf, and indeed the stratospheric standards to which Taylor holds herself.
But lost on the sceptics was the fact that despite its utterly predictable outcome, the fight itself was handpicked to serve a crucial purpose within the overall context of Taylor's pro career: It unleashed the beast to an audience of over half a million casual boxing viewers.
A never-say-die, come-forward opponent such as Gentili could scarcely have been a more perfect selection for Taylor to raise the curtain for the main event; while the Bray icon wowed her audience with a straightforward boxing exhibition and, in particular, her rifle-like left hook to the body, Gentili continued to march forward. It was inevitable that the 39-year-old Italian's annoying resilience would awaken Taylor's dark side, and in the fifth round the 2012 Olympic gold medallist duly lowered the boom on her foe.
Taylor's first highlight-reel KO in the pro ranks is a watershed moment in her career. For the first time, the neutral's applause and admiration turned to a chorus of howls and exhalations. The unwitting viewing public witnessed a violent explosion at the hands of the softly-spoken Irishwoman they saw on Sky Sports News during the week. Katie Taylor turned mean, and Google searches for 'Katie Taylor next fight' likely went through the roof.
Almost lost w/win by @TonyBellew is @KatieTaylor KO win &super undercard last night from @MatchroomBoxing 👍🏽 @Frank_1_Smith @EddieHearn 🥊💥🇬🇧
— Michael Buffer (@Michael_Buffer) March 5, 2017
The fear for Taylor entering the pro ranks was that her dignified demeanour wouldn't be conducive to generating interest outside of Ireland.
The 30-year-old famously keeps to herself and, in the past, has responded to opponents' chatter with nothing but class and respect - a far cry from the UFC's female trailblazer in Ronda Rousey, with whom Taylor's impending pro journey has inevitably been compared. Rousey, Taylor and their respective crafts, however, could hardly be more different, and Taylor will be required to plot an alternative route to superstardom in a sport altogether more unforgiving than the one she previously transcended.
Ireland's most recent 'mainstream' boxer, Bernard Dunne, recently told this writer that Taylor need not worry about the pre-fight hype and false bravado used to build superstars in the modern age, scoffing at the notion that she be expected to lower herself to the numbers-spinning antics of Haye, Bellew and certain UFC fighters.
"Oh, right, yeah. Throwing bottles and all that, is it? Fighting at press conferences! Why? Why would she need to do that?" asks the former WBA World super-bantamweight champion.
It was then put it to him that, as much as he might take umbrage with the wild and artificial promotional ways of modern combat sport, the numbers speak for themselves; one of boxing's finest gentlemen in Andy Lee, for example, for all his success, is underappreciated in his home country. Meanwhile, a comically brash caricature from Crumlin, who, while dressed accordingly, recently declared himself "a pimp," is the face of combat sports.
"Yeah, but Katie doesn't need to do that," says Dunne.
Why not?
"Well, I never called anyone out, or threw a bottle at anyone, and 500,000 people watched me fight for a world title."
Fair point.
What Dunne did have on his side was fighting ability and, more pertinently, mainstream exposure on RTÉ. And Taylor, whose manager Brian Peters was the mastermind behind much of Dunne's commercial pull, has more of both. All that's left, says Dunne, is for Bray's finest to cultivate a major fanbase. She'll do this by continuously winning, but she'll accelerate the process by winning explosively, even versus significantly weaker opponents.
In accordance with such a theory, Taylor was last night presented with a 'gimme' fight, and strategically placed second last on a major Sky card; the ideal opportunity to formally - and spectacularly - introduce herself to the masses outside of Ireland.
It was no coincidence that moments before her fight, her Matchroom stablemate Anthony Joshua - the most recognisable face in British boxing - joined the broadcast team to give his take on his fellow 2012 Olympic gold medallist. In terms of mainstream exposure, the impact of Joshua waxing lyrical about Taylor during the latter stages of a pay-per-view card shouldn't be underestimated. It was also no coincidence that the camera panned to pop star Ellie Goulding recording Taylor's ring entrance on her phone.
Everything about Eddie Hearn's promotion of Taylor last night was planned and executed meticulously, and it's his golden boy in Joshua whose career blueprint Hearn will seek to replicate with Taylor. Throughout Joshua's juggernaut-like ascent to the pinnacle of the sport, the charismatic Londoner has let his fists do the talking. Frankly, they've said enough.
After a career spanning just three-and-a-bit years and 18 fights, Joshua will fight in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium next month. Taylor, too, will grace the same venue on the same night, and the noise which greets her name during the introductions will be a lot louder than it was at the O2 on Saturday night.
A fight versus a 6-6 journeywoman might seem like baby steps for a fighter who, truth be told, could probably win a world title at a moment's notice, but such scraps are designed to culminate in a night where she does so in front of thousands of her own fans, topping a bill live on Sky Sports, potentially in Dublin.
When that night does arrive, and the choruses of 'Olé Olé' shake the Sky cameras pitched ringside at the 3Arena, last night's destruction of an overmatched opponent will make perfect sense.
