Joshua may lure Fury out of retirement if he beats Usyk in rematch

Boxing promoter and manager Eddie is confident Nigeria-born former world champion Anthony Joshua can lure Tyson Fury out of retirement for a December super-fight if he overcomes Oleksandr Usyk.

The plan may appear straight forward but in reality, AJ is faced with dethroning boxing's widely regarded pound-for-pound best.

And after Fury, 33, knocked out Dillian Whyte, 34, in April, he maintained it was his farewell fight, crushing hopes of a clash with AJ.

But Hearn is still bombarded with questions on when the nation's two leading heavyweight stars will finally fight.

And the promoter is adamant it can become a blockbuster reality by the end of the year if Joshua succeeds in his Usyk revenge mission.

Hearn told SunSport: "I think the fight between AJ and Fury is always there. 

"I mean, I still get questions walking down the street, even today, 'When's AJ fighting Fury?' It's like, 'He's got Usyk first'. 'Oh, has he?' .

"So of course, you don't want to go back-to-back defeats but Usyk is also pound-for-pound, I think possibly No1 right now. 

"Losing to Usyk is never terrible, the Fury fight is always there, but for the undisputed heavyweight world championship, which it would be, it would just be the biggest fight of all time. 

"And I think if AJ beats Usyk, that would be an automatic fight that you will see in December."

Joshua, 32, announced plans to activate his immediate rematch clause right after losing to Usyk, 35, over 12 rounds in Tottenham.

But the sequel faced several delays, as the Ukrainian hero bravely took up arms to defend his country amid Russia's invasion.

Usyk in March did flee his war-torn home to train for a rematch against Joshua as talks between opposing camps picked up.

Several mega-money site deals were presented to Hearn, including venues in the UK and America.

But Saudi Arabia, where Joshua beat Andy Ruiz Jr, 32, in December 2019, eventually pulled ahead as frontrunners.

SunSport understands the fight is set to land on August 20 in Saudi, as Hearn confirmed contracts have been finalised.

He said: "Thankfully I don’t have to say a "couple of weeks"any more.

"I can say "next week 100 per cent you’ll get an announcement about that fight".

“The paperwork is now taken care in full and we’ll obviously get the press conference out of the way today, we’ve got a show in Mexico tonight."

Joshua has also been subject to speculation on where his TV network future will lie.

Ever since 2015, he has been a pay-per-view attraction on Sky Box Office.

I think if AJ beats Usyk, that would be an automatic fight that you will see in December.

But after Hearn penned a historic billion-dollar deal with sports streaming service DAZN, his fights have been aired on the app Stateside.

So when DAZN officially broke into the UK market in late 2020, Sky faced the threat of losing poster boy Joshua.

The two-time heavyweight champion had looked likely to re-sign with Sky after his contract expired following defeat to Usyk.

But that was until SunSport revealed a dramatic U-turn saw AJ edge closer to breaking away and linking up with DAZN.

It would see his rematch with Usyk streamed on the app both in America and at home.

And after SunSport's exclusive reveal, Hearn confirmed Joshua has decided where his fights will be shown in the UK.

He said: "There’s the broadcast situation, which is like a soap opera in itself and there’s been a lot of work which has gone on behind the scenes. 

“The competition has been fierce to secure the signature of Anthony Joshua and he’s made his decision on the long-term future of his broadcaster. 

“And that will be revealed post-announcement of the fight and everyone will get to hear.”