Dmitry Salita has played down the chances of a potential meeting between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua at the backend of this year.
The lengthy rivalry between the heavyweight pair was reignited earlier this week when Fury challenged Joshua to meet him in the ring. AJ responded positively and speculation has mounted ever since.
Following his defeat to Oleksandr Usyk last month, it appeared that Joshua would rebuild his career with a number of fights before returning to title level at some point next year.
Fury laying down the gauntlet may mean a change of plans for Joshua, but Salita, a former world title challenger and now a manager/promoter, isn’t confident the fight happens next.
"It's an interesting fight between Joshua and Fury,” said Salita when speaking to Midnite.
“Joshua got better in the second fight against Usyk, but he's still coming off a loss.
"I think if that fight happens in December, it's not as big as it could be, and I really don't believe it can happen in December, because that's a huge fight and it deserves a bigger build up.
“For Fury-Joshua to be as big as it could be, Joshua needs to put together some significant wins and improvements.
"The public wants big fights where some think this guy is going to win, or that guy is going to win. At this point, even though it was a good performance against Usyk, I don't think there's anyone who thinks Joshua has any chance to beat Tyson Fury."