The monster became the first undisputed light heavyweight world champion since the great Roy Jones Jr. a quarter century ago.

The artist continued dancing after the final bell, convinced that the glory should have been his.

Artur Beterbiev was somewhat sympathetic about the win. Dmitry Bivol was sometimes generous in defeat.

The judges were divided. One had a draw. The two scored 115-113 and 116-112 for Beterbiev.

The Kingdom Arena crowd didn’t know what to make of it. When Saudi Arabia was in its infancy, the crowd simply cheered.

Artur Beterbiev is now the first undisputed light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era

Beterbiev was won the distance, with one judge scoring 114-114 while the other two scored 115-113 and 116-12 in Beterbiev’s favor

Either the decision would be controversial.

Some overheated critics cried robbery, their attention falling on Bivol’s intermittent flurry of combinations. Others, including me, nodded sagely as they realized that Beterviev was the aggressor and planned his attacks at critical moments. A draw might have been a generally acceptable result.

It may have been a grandstand event, but it wasn’t the classic predicted. And the boxing it longed for would usher in a renaissance of the glorious ’80s. No Sugar Ray Leonard or Marvin Hagler here.

Bivol was devastated after the loss but refused to make any excuses in his post-fight interview

The fight was one of the best boxing spectacles in recent memory, with both men having some success at the Kingdom Arena

In that sense, it was a slight disappointment, with Beterbiev admitting he was below his destructive best, which he had achieved in all his previous fights with brutal KOs. And admitted that while he thought he had meted out enough punishment for a narrow victory, he was “a little lucky” that two of the judges saw it that way.

Bivol did his best. At times he outclassed Beterbiev, but was able to withstand the powerful punches towards the end and was the first opponent to take him beyond the 12-round distance. The same thing happened in a test in the last two laps.

Everyone had a good night. Although not really a big fight between the Russians.

Both expressed their willingness for a rematch. It would be worth seeing, but not with such high expectations.

Hardly any Riyadh residents showed up at the freely accessible events during the week of the fight.

There wasn’t much expectation in the Kingdom Arena as the evening saw a number of the obligatory undercards.

Although it was curious why Ben Whittaker was given a technical draw after he and Liam Cameron fell through the ropes at the end of their fifth round and only he failed to climb back into the ring.

The decision was based on the fact that they were tied on points at the time, reasoning that Whittaker’s foot was hurting too much for him to continue.

Cynics noted that Ben the ballerina had long since stopped dancing and that the impetus lay with the rash Cameron.

Ben Whittaker (right) was awarded a technical draw after he and Liam Cameron (left) fell through the ropes

This time, Whittaker can get the benefit of the doubt. It’s still early days, but there are still lessons to be learned – especially in terms of stamina – if he is to be a key cog in the next generation of boxing, as he convinced many to be.

The first women’s world title fight in Saudi Arabia may have been socially significant, but the event was more like shadow boxing than sparring. The Springs had long since lost interest before the New Zealander was considered to have beaten her English challenger with a few more strokes of the brush.

Chris Eubank Jr duly stopped a pole so much smaller it looked more like a tent peg as he reached up to touch gloves. Conor Benn, of course, irritated everyone by jumping into the ring like a joke to pressure Eubank into a fight that no one knew if or when would take place…in the name of their fathers.

Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke had promised the Saudi leaders a repeat of their bloody fight of the year: The Sheiks of Araby got 148 seconds for their money. Wardley defended his British heavyweight title with a massive right punch for the first knockdown, followed by a series of punches that left Clarke sitting on a corner post like a giant, broken doll.

But none of that was the reason we were here. Not only because of the spectacular Son-et-Lumière that His generous Excellency Turki Alalshikh is happy to send to music superstars to entertain invited celebrities and raise the curtain on the winter Riyadh season full of sports, concerts and cultural events. As much as the pounding blow and searing flames raised the temperature.

No. The candle to which we flocked like moths was finally the staging of the fight between the two best light heavyweights in the world.

Yes, Beterbviev vs. Bivol. Yes, for the undisputed world title. Hopefully a throwback fight for the ages.