Eddie Hearn has said that a fight with Oleksandr Usyk is likely next for Anthony Joshua.
Usyk had been set for a WBO eliminator with Joe Joyce as he waited for the resolution of the Fury-Joshua undisputed clash, but Deontay Wilder won his arbitration case and is due for a summer fight with the WBC champion.
With the Ukrainian the mandatory challenger for the WBO, Joshua is likely obliged to take him on next in order to retain hopes of eventually becoming undisputed world champion later down the line.
Hearn could not guarantee it, but said the priority was to make the event with Usyk.
“Subject to a few details from the WBO like the purse bid, that is the first fight,” he told the DAZN Boxing Show.
“It looks like the end of August. Since the [Kubrat] Pulev fight, AJ’s whole life has been about the Fury fight.
“His training, his sparring, everything has been geared to that. So now we have to reset, he’s fighting Usyk, a southpaw.
“He had no problem fighting Usyk so he said if you feel like the deal is right, let’s proceed.”