The eyes of the entire heavyweight boxing scene were trained on London on Thursday, as former undisputed heavyweight champion Tyson Fury announced his return to the ring.

One particularly interested observer was unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua - and "AJ" wasted little time in addressing a potential fight between himself and Fury.

Current WBA, WBO, IBF, and IBO champion Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) is keen to fight Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) and suggested that the timing of a clash between the two unbeaten fighters is very much up to Fury.

"If he wants to fight me next, he can fight me next...If he wants to fight 10 fights down the line, he can do that as well," said Joshua following Fury's press conference.

The 28-year-old did, however, seem sceptical as to whether Fury would be as committed to the bout as he seems when it comes to actually signing a contract. 

"It'll be a situation that, when the opportunity does come, he'll be saying he's the man who beat the man, he deserves this, he deserves that, and then he won't fight me," speculated Joshua, who appears to be growing increasingly frustrated with the various difficulties that come with negotiating the biggest fights in the division.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn had seemed to be on the verge of successfully agreeing a unification fight with WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder last month - only for Wilder to pull out of making the trip to Cardiff to watch Joshua's victory over Joseph Parker, unhappy over his access to the ring on the night.

"I'm the flag-bearer, the best heavyweight champion out there now," stated Joshua.

"The ones who are scared to step up talk a good game, but don't really back it up so I get bored of it.

"When Tyson Fury's ready, we'll make it big, we'll make it fun. When Wilder's ready, we'll make it big, we'll make it fun," promised Joshua. 

Despite Joshua's claim that a fight between himself and Fury could be next, it seems highly unlikely that this will become a reality.

Fury has been out of the ring for two-and-a-half years and would almost certainly require a warm-up fight in order to shake off inevitable ring rust before he challenges any of the heavyweight elite.

Joshua, for his part, has a mandatory challenger to his WBA championship in the shape of Alexander Povetkin to consider before he confirms his next move - but has called on Wilder to do his part if he is genuinely serious about making a fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship happen.

"If Wilder was as serious as he says he is he would jump at the opportunity. I haven't heard from the president of the WBA, but that's a conversation to be had. If there was a situation where Wilder accepted the challenge and it was something he was looking to do this year, it would be a conversation with the WBA, to see how we could hopefully postpone Povetkin until 2019. I didn't work this hard to give things away," reasoned Joshua.

"Wilder's had 40 fights. The fans and broadcasters are fed up so he has to make a move. That fight will happen sometime. My career isn't based around Wilder...That's what's clear about it."

Whilst fans will be keen to see a Joshua vs Wilder fight made for late this year, they will also be hopeful that negotiations for a Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury fight prove to be less complicated.

Fury must prove his fitness and desire on June 9, but, should he come past that first test, the long-awaited meeting between Britain's two best-known heavyweights remains a distinct possibility.