Eddie Hearn may have given Dillian Whyte extra motivation before his upcoming fight against Lucas Browne at the O2 on Saturday night after saying a victory will definitely put him in the future plans of Anthony Joshua.

Whyte suffered the only loss of his professional career to Joshua in a classic encounter three years ago.

Both men threw absolutely everything they had at each other and although Whyte was defeated, he was able to rock AJ on a couple of occasions.

And Joshua's promoter Hearn has claimed it's a rivalry that still has some unfinished business to settle.

"I know that Joshua will fight Dillian Whyte again," Hearn told Sky Sports.

"I think if you asked him and said 'Tell me one fight in the division you want?' He could say Dillian Whyte, because he loved it, and he feels as though he wasn't his best, because he lost his rag a little bit."

"But he's improved so much and he loves having a tear-up, and he knows Dillian will give him a tear-up."

The Body Snatcher will face off against Browne in a matchup that will have major implications for future bouts.

Currently, Whyte is the number one ranked contender of the WBC and could get a shot at Deontay Wilder should he come out victorious. However, a loss to Browne will see him vacate the number one spot to the Australian himself.

Hearn continued: "It's a really big fight for the division and the winner - Wilder and AJ are looking at this fight and saying - the winner is a million percent on my radar.

"All AJ talks about is fighting Dillian Whyte again, because he seems to really want to do that. Of course, Lucas Browne is a former world champion who is undefeated, so if he beats Dillian, all of a sudden he's a major player.

"This for me is the most important fight and the best fight outside of the championship fights. The winner is going to be No 1 in the WBC because Dillian already is. He's going to be top five in every governing body and you're there."

Joshua meanwhile is just two weeks away from his unification battle with Joseph Parker.

A victory for the Brit would see him hold a record four world titles simultaneously. Wilder for his part, will be sitting ringside to fan the flames of a future clash. A clash that Hearn believes will eventually happen

"I would like him to fight Wilder still," Hearn added. "I think that if we [Joshua] didn't fight Wilder next and we had our August fight, then we could do Dillian against Wilder.

"Everybody wants to see AJ versus Wilder, it's difficult, but I would like to see Dillian get a shot at the world title before he fights AJ."