Whilst a huge unification fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder may not be happening in 2018, there's still potential for it to happen down the line.

Despite months of negotiations between the management teams of the pair, a deal couldn't be concluded for a clash this year.

Instead, Wilder will take to the ring once again to defend his WBC heavyweight belt - but against the 'Gypsy King' Tyson Fury.

The fight should be happening in November or December in Las Vegas, and represents a huge chance for Fury to get back to the top of the sport, following his two-year suspension.

Coming up for Joshua is a title defence against Russian contender Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium on September 22, one he's expected to get through easily, but stranger things have happened in the sport.

Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn has always stated that a $15 million offer has always been on the table for the 'Bronze Bomber', but he's put down a marker for Wilder to beat if he wants to earn more money from a potential showdown with AJ.

"If or when this fight happens, and he [Wilder] beats Fury, his stock will increase and so too will his offer going into that fight [with Joshua]," said Hearn.

But when asked if a Wilder win and potential box office smash would make him the A-side of the mammoth clash, the Matchroom Boxing mogul explicitly stated: "It doesn't even do 500,000 buys in my opinion."

Hearn has given Wilder a big target to hit though when it comes to selling the fight in the United States, and at a rumoured $70 purchase, it could be a tough ask.

"If they hit 1 million buys and all of a sudden Wilder becomes a massive pay-per-view draw, all of a sudden the game changes," claimed Hearn.

Hearn is also very skeptical on whether Wilder's $50 million contract offer to fight Joshua was legitimate, with rival promoter Frank Warren claiming he was helping the Bronze Bomber's team get together the cash needed to make the super-fight happen.

"I think that a lot of this was a pre-concieved plan," said Hearn.

"When you hear Frank Warren saying 'I was behind the offer to Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua' and he's said that Shelly [Finkel, Wilder's manager] asked him to help him get the money together, and if you're asking Frank Warren to that, that isn't a good look.

"Secondly, Warren said that it would be on BT Sport, when Joshua has an exclusive deal with Sky Sports. So straight away that $50 million offer [from Wilder's team] is completely void.

"So was it a little bit of fun and games? Was it to hype a Fury-Wilder fight? Was this the plan all along? If it was, smart move by those guys, because it's worked."