Lennox Lewis, the reigning WBC champion, and Frank Bruno met in the first world heavyweight title fight between two British-born fighters on October 1, 1993. The clash, at Cardiff’s National Stadium, was also the first world heavyweight title fight of any kind in Wales.

That National Stadium was demolished in 1997, but the huge Millennium Stadium, now known as Principality, was erected on the very same site where the River Taff and Castle Street meet in the city center two years later. It means that Fury and Joshua will collide on almost the exact same spot Lewis and Bruno did 33 years ago.

Much like Fury-Joshua, the fight between Lewis and Bruno was by far the richest possible fight in the country at the time. The champion reportedly banked £3.5million while Bruno received £1m.

There was no roof on the old place and incessant rain had poured over Cardiff throughout fight week. Organizers even changed the ring canvas before the main event to try and ensure the two towering heavyweights would not slip on it. There will be no such problem this time due to the Principality Stadium’s retractable roof.

So why did such a huge fight, between two fighters born in London, end up in the Welsh capital? There were a number of reasons. Firstly, Lewis’ promoter Frank Maloney said at the time: “We had a good offer from Wembley, but Lennox wanted to give this one to the people.”

However, reports at the time pointed out that the another agreeable date with American broadcaster HBO was October 15. The only problem with that was Wembley Stadium had already agreed to host a rugby league international less than 24 hours later.

But Bruno had his own theory. The hugely popular 31-year-old, whose support dwarfed that of Lewis, suggested that Maloney took the fight out of England in an attempt to dampen some of that. Bruno insisted, however, that his appeal stretched throughout his home nation and far across the River Severn.

In fact, it was this “Britishness” that dominated a deeply bitter build-up and eventually resulted in legal action.

Bruno had always seen Lewis, then 28, as something of an imposter, who was simply masquerading as British in a bid to secure opportunities in a more open market than the States. Although Lewis was born in West Ham, east London, he had moved to Canada at 12 and claimed gold for the country at the 1988 Olympics. Bruno, who questioned Lewis’ Britishness at every turn, said: “Doesn’t matter. I’m going to hit him so hard he won’t know if he’s Canadian, Jamaican or from Los Angeles.”

Lewis countered that he had fought more British opponents than Bruno had and famously retorted, "What was I supposed to do, not follow my mother to Canada?"

While Bruno questioned his opponent's legitimacy as a Great British heavyweight, Lewis saw him as somebody who had sold out to white Britain to garner more popularity. Early on in the promotion, Lewis labeled his opponent an “Uncle Tom” and was sued as a result.

Despite this narrative, the fight’s organizers were rightly keen on highlighting the historical importance of such a fight. A huge, smoking fireworks display that read “Battle of Britain, Lewis-Bruno” was lit inside the stadium as the Welsh national anthem played before the fighters emerged.

Although the history books tell us this fight took place on October 1, they did not actually get underway until just after 1 a.m. on October 2 to best furnish the American TV market. Sound familiar? The start time nor the rain did little to dampen the spirits of the 25,000 inside the stadium, who roared as Bruno emerged.

Lewis received a mixed reception as Bruno, whose waistband carried the words "TRUE BRIT" across the back, shadowboxed in the ring.

This was the second defense of the WBC strap Lewis had received after Riddick Bowe binned the belt rather than face him. Lewis moved to 23-0 when he outpointed Tony Tucker in Las Vegas a few months later and agreed to this showdown with Bruno.

At the time, the jury was still out on just how great Lewis could be and Bowe himself had suggested that he might be in trouble should Bruno land, given that nobody had tested his chin yet. He would, of course, go on to become one of history’s greatest heavyweights.

For Bruno, this was his third crack at the title having lost in his challenges to Tim Witherspoon and Mike Tyson during the late '80s. He was a big underdog against Lewis, but at 36-3 was vastly more experienced.

The muscle-bound Bruno made a good start, too, managing to dominate the center of the ring and force Lewis to spend most of the early rounds circling. He had a particularly good second round, landing a hard left hook, before he got the crowd very excited with a double-jab, right-hand combination in the fourth that seemed to hurt.

Lewis, meanwhile, seemed happy not to press the action and, at times, looked lackluster. The strange vision of him wrapped in a huge brown blanket to keep warm between rounds did not help with that view.

Perhaps sensing an opportunity, Bruno decided to put his foot down at the start of the seventh, upping his punch output and getting the crowd on their feet again.

However, after one such flurry, he retreated with his hands down and shipped a counter left hook which changed the fight completely. From then on, Bruno was in survival mode as Lewis burst into life.

In the end, referee Mickey Vann had no choice but to jump in and end the punishment at an official time of 1:12 in Round 7.

“It was a tough fight,” Lewis said. “Bruno was a lot tougher than I thought he would be. It took me a while to get started. I went in there pretty cold, but I realized as the fight wore on he would slow down.”

And, when asked about the pair’s feud, he said: “I don’t keep no grudges. I don’t hate Bruno. He gave me a tough fight and respect to him.”

Bruno said: “I’ve got respect for him, but I’m still going to sue him for calling me an Uncle Tom. I don’t have respect for anyone calling me that, but that is a separate item. He beat me fair and square. Good luck to him.”

It was suggested at the time that it may be the last we saw of Bruno after 40 professional outings. However, he would fight on and finally claim the world heavyweight title at the fourth attempt by beating Oliver McCall at Wembley Stadium in 1995.

Lewis would go on to have memorable victories over Evander Holyfield, Shannon Briggs, David Tua, Hasim Rahman, Mike Tyson and Vitali Klitschko. He remains Britain’s most recent undisputed world heavyweight champion after he achieved the feat in 1999.

As such, this crucial crossroad grudge match with Bruno is often overlooked in the context of his whole career. But there can be no mistaking just how significant it was in the history of British boxing.

“In the Battle of Britain,” commentator Ian Darke said as he closed the broadcast that night. “Lewis was the one flying the Spitfires.”