Professional boxing offers no guarantees.
Contrary to most elite sport, the people who can make things happen are visible - disarmingly so, sometimes.
Yet, this is not a feature of the boxing promoter's lot that makes them any more accountable for satisfying our desires.
The greatest fights are not dependent upon talent, the potential for sporting excellence or deserving alone. Timing, and the possibility of a considerable purse, outweigh all else - no more so than when we consider top ranking, heavyweight boxers.
As Anthony Joshua today considered the identity of his next opponent, one element of the negotiation process was clear; what fight he took on would rest entirely with his promoter, Eddie Hearn, and the deal he could secure.
Confidently claiming that he is 'serious about becoming undisputed heavyweight champion of the world', the man currently in possession of the WBA, IBF and IBO world titles is naturally focusing his attention on the two men in possession of the missing belts - Deontay Wilder (WBC) and Joseph Parker (WBO).
Stressing that Parker is his 'preferred option', there was nonetheless a sense that Joshua felt compelled to address Wilder's accusation that the British boxer is running scared:
No offers have been made from their or our side; we had a mandatory in place, and now we're taking the time and effort to get the ball rolling.
There's one thing talking and acting, but negotiations don't happen over social media. We're now making the moves forward.
Seeing that Wilder's latest inflammatory comments came directly after his brutal dismantling of Bermane Stiverne on Saturday night, Joshua's disparaging nod toward those conducting their dealings over 'social media' suggests an awareness of Tyson Fury's slow - but certainly vocal - road to recovery.
It's no problem if Wilder wants to fight early next year, but no offers have been made to me. There has never been an offer. Everyone says they want to fight, and then sits back and waits for me to do all the homework.
Having already faced one giant of the heavyweight division - albeit one who had already been shrunken by Fury - in Wladimir Klitschko, Joshua and Hearn will be aware that there are only so many more 'Carlos Takams' to fight before widespread interest begins waning.
With British boxing capturing the imagination in a way it hasn't since the nineteen-nineties, Joshua's next series of fights could well define his legacy as one of the outstanding heavyweights of his generation.
Having turned 28 in October, Wilder is already 4 years and 19 fights further down the line; both men are now suitably primed to face one another.
