When the camera panned to a grinning Chris Eubank Sr stepping out of a black car, you half expected the Eastenders duff-duffs to swiftly follow.
His arrival for his son’s bout with Conor Benn on Saturday night was a scene worthy of any soap opera plot twist.
In a sport of fine margins, the reconciliation may just have given his son, Chris Eubank Jr – who said before the fight he had not spoken to his father for years – the edge over Conor Benn in a rivalry steeped in history and drama.
After 12 gruelling back-and-forth rounds at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the usually composed Eubank fell to his knees when his name was read out as the winner.
Benn welled up, tears masked by a stone-faced expression as he battled the disappointment.
Anyone who has even loosely followed boxing these past two years will be acutely aware how badly both men wanted the win.
It all began with a clash of personalities and a bloodline feud inherited from their fathers’ iconic duel in the 1990s.
The rivalry was blasted to heights higher than Katy Perry’s recent brief space jaunt after Benn failed a drugs test, which led to the cancellation of their scheduled 2022 bout.
And it ended with both men, rather fittingly, in the arms of their legendary fathers.
As an emotional Benn took his defeat with humility, he also struck at what has been at the heart of a fight that captivated a nation.
“A relationship with your father is special, I’d pick a relationship with my dad over boxing any day,” Benn said.
“If this fight brought Chris and his dad together then that’s worth its weight in gold.”
In the moment, it’s all too easy to rave about the spectacle and exceeded expectations.
But is a rematch the best move for the fighters and British boxing?
Or after a two-year doping scandal, unnecessary egg slap and a criticised weight agreement, should we move on from this family feud?
