The conflict between Fury and Usyk was alleged to occur subsequent week however has now been pushed again to May 18. Both fighters have a rematch clause of their contracts, which implies they're scheduled to combat twice this yr. However, Joshua might disrupt these plans if he continues his successful streak.

Joshua is presently main the pack to face the winner of the Fury-Usyk combat after securing three victories in 2023, together with a notable win over Otto Wallin in Saudi Arabia final December. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, thinks that His Excellency Turki Alalshikh might step in if Joshua retains successful.

This might delay the rematch between Fury and Usyk, giving Joshua an opportunity on the undisputed title. Alalshikh is the chairman of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, which has organized and funded the profitable sequence of fights within the Kingdom over the previous yr.

Joshua is about to combat MMA celebrity Francis Ngannou in Riyadh on March 8. If he wins, he would possibly face Croatia's Filip Hrgovic in the summertime for the IBF world title if the winner of Fury and Usyk is obliged to vacate the belt.

Hearn, Matchroom Boxing boss, believes that if Joshua wins, he ought to get a shot on the undisputed crown. "The timing worked perfectly for AJ to stop Ngannou and for Fury to win," Hearn instructed iFL TV. “We respect there’s this combat and this rematch, however you know the way issues are going to go. Come on, you know the way His Excellency strikes. When the most important combat within the historical past of the game is in entrance of you to make I'm positive as hell discover a solution to preserve all people completely satisfied and make that combat nevertheless it's irrelevant proper now.

"We need that fight to happen and now that fight is happening two months after our fight. So it sounds more likely that if AJ if triumphant will fight Filip Hrgovic for a world title, which is fine and then we’ll fight the winner of Fury vs Usyk. AJ is just like, ‘Sign me up to everything, I’m going to beat everyone’."

Hearn thinks Fury is most definitely to win towards Usyk of their upcoming combat. He mentioned: "[Fury has] got the bit between his teeth. Good, I like seeing Tyson Fury like that. Good luck to him, he says two Usyk fights but I believe there'll be one. I love it, music to my ears. Guess what, Joshua is going to knock Ngannou out and beat Hrgovic if that's what he's got to do. Then he's going to knock out Tyson Fury."

* An AI device was used so as to add an additional layer to the modifying course of for this story.