Former heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua has been offered an interim test with either Joe Joyce or Daniel Dubois before taking a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
The British star is now set to face Usyk in a rematch after talks of a step-aside offer to allow Tyson Fury to face the Ukrainian collapsed.
He will bid to become a three-time heavyweight champion and regain his belts, but will need a much stronger performance than in their previous meeting in September.
Promoter Frank Warren has called for Joshua to face either Dubois or Joyce if he needs a fight before facing Usyk later this year.
“If he wants to fight before hand, fight Joe Joyce or Daniel Dubois,” Warren told the Lowdown by Queensberry Promotions. “They are very, very good fights.
“Well I would think it will happen, Joshua priced himself out with the demands he was making.
“That was the straw that broke the camel back as far as Tyson is concerned.
“I think that he has nowhere else to go.
“What else is he going to do?
“That is the fight out there for him and if he doesn’t take it, Usyk will move on.
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“I don’t know what he would do, the titles are tied up with Usyk and Tyson.
“No-one else has got the titles.”
Joyce is currently the WBO’s leading contender for a title shot but is yet to be confirmed as a mandatory challenger with the heavyweight picture exceptionally busy with two big fights in the pipeline.
Meanwhile Dubois has bounced back since his defeat to Joyce and is looking to follow the WBA ranking route to assert his own position in securing a title shot.
However Joshua is likely to move straight into a shot at Usyk with the view to challenging the winner of Fury’s clash with Dillian Whyte for the undisputed titles if he can secure revenge.
He has begun training ahead of a potential rematch and is expected to announce a new coaching addition to his team to help redeem his defeat.
Hearn has admitted that an agreement is largely in place for the rematch with Usyk’s team and it is just a case of setting a date and a venue.
“That deal with AJ vs Usyk is very simple,” Hearn told Mirror Fighting.
“The deal is already done, terms are all agreed, it is literally just a conversation to say ‘Oleksandr it is April the whatever at Wembley, see you there mate’.
“With those guys it will be easy but it was people’s desire to try and come up with this other plan that prolonged everything. If that plan cannot be put in to place we should all just move on.
“Joshua hasn’t signed any non-formal agreement to step-aside, I am interested in looking to take the best opportunity for him to fight the winner of that fight to determine the best heavyweight in the world for a lot of money.”
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