Anthony Joshua is expected to be in Riyadh this weekend for Saturday night's 'Last Crescendo' card headlined by Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol - but it's the co-feature he'll have his eye on.
Joshua has been mulling over his next move since suffering a devastating fifth-round knockout defeat to Daniel Dubois last September, but it was widely-assumed a showdown with Tyson Fury would follow.
Fury has since 'retired', however, and Joshua now faces a potential rematch with Dubois, should he win this weekend against Joseph Parker in his second IBF heavyweight title defence.
Joshua may struggle at the negotiating table for that fight, though, with WBA/WBO/WBC/The Ring titleholder Oleksandr Usyk waiting in the wings and seeking the opportunity to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion.
But Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn is adamant the Watford man only wants a shot at the heavyweight title if the Fury fight isn't on the table - and Usyk isn't an option.
Hearn says the only thing he knows is that AJ wants to fight Fury and he wants to fight for the world heavyweight title, that's it.
In December 2024, Fury lost for the second consecutive time to Usyk and the Gypsy King wasn't best pleased with the judges' scorecards, which all read 116-112 in favour of the former undisputed cruiserweight champion.
Since then, Fury has stayed away from the public eye after hanging up his gloves in the middle of January, and there have been no talks regarding a comeback.
[Source: The Ring Magazine]
