If reports are to be believed, negotiations for the long-awaited undisputed heavyweight championship showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury are on the verge of being completed.

The two fierce rivals look set to clash this summer in one of the biggest bouts of all time to finally determine who is the best heavyweight on the planet.

Such is the hype behind the fight that it hardly needs to be promoted. However, Fury is known for his flamboyant and outspoken approach to pre-fight press engagements - and things will surely be no different in the build-up to his meeting with 'AJ'.

Speaking in the latest instalment of the JD: Road to Undisputed blog series, Joshua revealed that he is more than happy for Fury to take centre stage in front of the world's media.

"He (Fury) can bring whatever he wants, it don’t matter to me," insisted Joshua.

"The press conference antics, the fight antics, the hands behind the back, I love that stuff that’s all part of it you know that’s his job, but my job is to close the show."

The 31-year-old Londoner then went on to dismiss the unbeaten Fury as little more than a "warm-up act."

He’s a warm-up act, he’s there to do all that stuff but ultimately my job is to close the show and that’s all that matters.

The deal to put together the all-British superfight has been a long and drawn-out process, with COVID-19 also posing understandable problems. Joshua, though, is confident the bout will take place this year.

AJ Has More In The Tank

The current holder of the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight crowns also believes he has many more fights left in his career than WBC champion Fury.

"For him, he said that after he fights me, maybe he fights Chisora, then he’s ready to go off into the sunset. For me, I’ve still got so much more I want to do in this boxing game, the road to undisputed is part of the journey it’s not the end to the journey.

“That’s why I know I will get past this fight because I’m looking past him, I want more, this isn’t where this stops. The fight, god-willing, will be this year, I’m saying it is going to be this year, I’m going to speak into existence and I will be victorious," vowed Joshua.

The admission from Joshua that he is any way looking past Fury is a surprising one. This could well just be mind games as each man prepares for the most significant fight of their respective career.

There is no date or venue that has been publically locked in for the unification clash. However, Joshua and Fury both realise what is on the horizon. If Joshua is able to live up to his words and blast through Fury, then it would be one of the most impressive feats in heavyweight boxing history. 

Hopefully, we are just mere months from finding out the answer.