Snooker’s closest thing to the Ali-Frazier epics will get under way on Saturday when O’Sullivan faces four-time winner John Higgins in Sheffield, and as he homes in on eclipsing the mark he shares with Stephen Hendry he is resigned to doing things the hard way.

“I wish I was a footballer, or playing in the NFL, where you can ask the boss if you could have a month off. Or, ‘please don’t let me play against him because I don’t like playing against him’,” admitted O’Sullivan.

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“But my whole career has been like, you’ve got to be here this time and play that person. And I’ve had to play all the best players of different generations. Unlike some of these fighters who get hand-picked opponents, I’ve had to play the field.

“That’s why I fell out of love with boxing, because some people get the easy path, some get the hard path. I respect boxers who do the hard path, because you think, at least you’re fighting the best out there. And I think my career has been like that.”

The two 50-year-olds have gone toe-to-toe in 79 professional matches – including the 2001 world final – with O’Sullivan winning 41. Their first recorded meeting saw O’Sullivan beat the Scot 5-1 in the 1994 Dubai Classic, when they were both still in their teens.

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O’Sullivan might not share the anticipation of another three-day, best-of-25 frame Crucible encounter, but his memory of his first ever match against Higgins, at the Pontins Autumn Open, remains in his mind.

“I played him at Pontins when he was 14,” recalled O’Sullivan. “I’d never heard of John until that tournament, but you knew then it was an unbelievable player.

“I don’t really get turned on by that (facing Higgins again), to be honest with you. I just play the game.

“There isn’t an opponent out there that I can’t wait to go and play. That doesn’t float my boat. I love the game whoever’s sitting in the chair.”