A three-man shortlist to fight Anthony Joshua later this year if he defeats Andy Ruiz this weekend has been revealed.Joshua defends his three heavyweight titles at the prestigious Madison Square Garden this weekend, with most fans already looking on to the Brit's next opponent.Eddie Hearn provided the names, whilst stating Joshua must handle his mandatory bouts before a clash with the 'Gypsy King' Tyson Fury comes into the question.If he gets past Ruiz on Saturday night, Joshua could be seen in the ring with either Oleksandr Usyk, Kubrat Pulev or Dillian Whyte.Although Hearn revealed three other fighters, the door on a bout with Fury wasn't completely shut and locked, as he was asked if the much demanded fight was a possibility.
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Hearn told iFL TV: "A little bit yeah, we have to take care of our mandatories as well.
"WBO mandatory, IBF mandatory. The WBO haven’t ruled yet, but we have a WBO mandatory due, it could be [Usyk].
"We have an IBF mandatory due in Pulev. We’ve got maybe even a Dillian Whyte fight we just jump into in November.
"If Joshua’s not on his game, he won’t beat Ruiz and then we’re rematching Ruiz!"
Drama is never far away from Eddie Hearn, who immediately switched attention to the decision of Deontay Wilder to announce his rematch with Luis Ortiz.
"Joshua goes on ESPN and says, 'I'll sit down with you after my fight and we’ll do a deal'," he added.
"And he goes, 'S***. How can we look okay out of this? Oh yeah, I've signed a deal to fight Ortiz everybody.'
"What, that morning? It’s embarrassing, that’s what it is…
"Stop talking about Wilder, he's a waste of time. They don’t want the fight, he's been talked into doing something else.
"He's not his own boss, he don’t make his own decisions, let him do what he’s been talked into.
"When he becomes available, after he’s fought Ortiz, after he’s fought [Adam] Kownacki, then I guess we’ll try again."
The unbeaten Joshua makes his first appearance on US soil on Saturday against Andy Ruiz, with the main event expected to get underway at around 3:00am UK time.