David Haye has revealed he believes Anthony Joshua's perfect 22-0 record has earnt him the right to label himself the world's no. 1 heavyweight, in front of both Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury.

The retired former world champion has pinpointed Joshua as the best out of the current crop of heavyweight talent, despite Wilder and Fury's controversial draw back in December leaving all three men's unbeaten records intact.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Haye hailed the 29-year-old as the best current heavyweight boxing has to offer due to the fact he's yet to suffer a draw.

“The guy that I’d consider number one is the guy who has an unblemished record. Anthony Joshua’s never had a draw.

“If you look at Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder, they had a fight, I was strangely happy with a draw because it’s hard to go into an opponent’s backyard and take the title off the champion after being knocked down so heavily, twice."

Many fans of the sport were adamant that Fury did enough to defeat Wilder in America at the end of 2018, despite being knocked down twice in an inspired performance, and Haye has put it down to the "boxing Gods" wanting a rematch.

He continued: “I understood a draw. If I was a judge, possibly I would have scored it to Tyson Fury, but the boxing Gods believe they should do it again.”

Joshua will be confident in extending his perfect record to 23-0 when he faces Jarrell 'Big Baby' Miller's replacement Andy Ruiz Jr. at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday.

Across town at the Barclays Center, Wilder beat Dominic Breazeale through a first-round knockout earlier this month and will now face Luis Ortiz in a rematch next.

Meanwhile, Fury and Dillian Whyte could also be a fight taking place somewhere down the line, once they have faced Tom Schwarz and Oscar Rivas respectively.

It's certainly an interesting time to be a heavyweight boxing fan.