ANTHONY JOSHUA could find himself across the ring from Tyson Fury just TWO MONTHS after his crossover clash with Francis Ngannou.
The Watford warrior will continue his career rebuild with a lucrative Saudi showdown with the former UFC heavyweight champion on March 8.
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AJ and his team are hoping to see out 2024 with a world title fight, but a showdown with Brit rival Fury could fall in their lap should Oleksandr Usyk pull out of their rescheduled undisputed bout on May 18.
Saudi boxing kingpin Turki Alalshikh dropped the bombshell during an appearance on The MMA Hour, saying: “I guarantee there will be another big fight on the same night [if it is cancelled].
“If Usyk is scared then I will call for Joshua vs Fury and if Fury is scared I will call for any fighter that Usyk wants.
“This is the fight of the century.”
Prior to the rescheduling of the first undisputed title fight in nearly 25 years, Joshua’s team revealed to SunSport that he’d be willing to move forward his clash with Ngannou to preserve the Saudi’s big-money plans.
Fury and Usyk’s historic undisputed showdown was postponed this week after the Brit suffered a horror cut in sparring.
But both men will be on the hook for a staggering £8million if they do a runner from the long-overdue unification fight.
Alalshikh said: “I have delayed it for May 18, I guarantee for both of the fighters $10m if someone escapes from the fight.
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TYSON FURY VS OLEKSANDR USYK: ALL THE DETAILS YOU NEED AHEAD OF HUGE UNDISPUTED HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT
“We will make the people around the world know if someone is scared.”
Fury was left devastated by the re-opening of the wound he suffered in his 2019 clash with Otto Wallin, so much so he still wanted to fight on February.
Alalshikh said: “Tyson doesn’t want me to tell this secret.
“He wanted to fight on the 17th with the cut but I didn’t let him it would be a circus, not a fight.
“We have a deadline with IBF and I don’t want a headache with them.”
Fury looked to be in tip-top shape for the biggest fight of his life, which he’s adamant he would have won in emphatic fashion.
He said: “This is not a blessing in disguise, but I take God’s will as it comes.
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“I was 100 per cent confident I was going to knock Usyk out. I was 100 per cent ready.
“Why would I not want to fight for the biggest payday of my life?”
Will Tyson Fury really be ready for Usyk on May 18?
TYSON FURY and Oleksandr Usyk will now meet on May 18 after their undisputed fight was rescheduled following the Gypsy King’s horror cut in training.
It could mean Fury has just 17 DAYS to fully prepare for the mouthwatering clash.
Here, SunSport boxing expert Wally Downes Jr reveals whether the Brit will be fully prepared for the task at hand…
Fury insists he only needed 11 stitches on the gash over his right eye, promoter Frank Warren had earlier said 14, and it did look to be healing nicely when he appeared online to debate Usyk on Saturday evening.
Whichever it is, it makes this new scratch sound like a paper cut compared to the axe wound he suffered against Otto Wallin in 2019.
Doctors will try to ban Fury from any physical activity while the cut heals and then prescribe a very slow return to training and only when it is completely repaired will he be advised to spar.
However, trying to tell the 35-year-old Gypsy King what he can and cannot do might be a tall order for the little doctor charged with the task of policing the 6ft 9ins 20st maverick.
The maths suggests he might only have 17 days of sparring to prepare for the super-talented southpaw, who grabbed gold at London 2012 and became undisputed cruiserweight king.
And, while Fury is supposedly resting up and recovering from this latest set-back, Usyk will still be training his mind and body, doing practice rounds with giants and growing in confidence.
While Fury is sidelined, he will undoubtedly gain weight. He was as big as 22st just eight weeks out from his October scare against Francis Ngannou, so he still has not tamed his appetite.
And Fury fans will definitely worry that an enforced break, another stumbling block and another scar target for Usyk to aim his punches at, will all play into the 37-year-old Ukraine icon’s favour on May 18.