Eddie Hearn has announced that it's ‘virtually impossible’ for Anthony Joshua to step aside and allow Tyson Fury to face Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk’s camp reached out to team Joshua at the beginning of this month to see if the two-time world heavyweight champion would be willing to forgo his rematch with the newly crowned champion.
AJ is on course to have the rematch with the Ukrainian next year, and this was all but confirmed with the WBC ordering a ‘Battle of Britain’ between Dillian Whyte and the current titleholder – Tyson Fury.
Eddie Hearn spoke about this in his BBC column, saying: “There’s been lots of talk about Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk, Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte.
"Rumours of a step aside offer for Joshua are exaggerated. His focus has always been on rematching Usyk.
"If there was a conversation to be had we’d have it, but the announcement from the WBC makes that virtually impossible.
"Dillian is now Fury’s mandatory, it’s been a long time coming."
Negotiations between the two former sparring partners Fury and White are currently ongoing, as they were mandated earlier this month, but both parties are still struggling to come to an agreement on the pair's respective splits of the lucrative purse.
Hearn said: “We await official confirmation of the split for that fight, but it’s almost nailed on we will see Fury v Whyte in the spring of 2022.”
Fans will want this one confirmed as soon as possible, with it being one of the most eagerly anticipated fights in the boxing world at the moment.
Joshua will be looking for revenge on Usyk after ‘The Cat’ toyed with him in his own backyard at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September.
He spoke with iFL TV: “I have one thing in my mind, that’s war, that’s murder, that’s war, let’s go out there and hurt the guy.
"Take his soul to the point where he wants to give up. That’s what boxing’s about, I’ve learned that.
"You hit people constantly, keep on applying a certain amount of pressure, before they know it they’ll realise you aren’t going anywhere, you’re here to stay.
“With the game plan, that’s all I have in my mind at the minute, that one track, stay on course, take this guy to places he doesn’t want to go.”