Anthony Joshua has once again called out Tyson Fury for an undisputed heavyweight championship battle, saying “Come fight me”.
If a contest were to take place between AJ and The Gypsy King, it would undoubtedly be the biggest fight to happen at any weight between two Brits - ever.
It is almost three years since Joshua called Fury's name in the Wembley Stadium ring, immediately after he had defeated Wladimir Klitschko. In return, Fury himself has brought up Joshua’s name on many occasions since then.
But now, with Joshua holding three of the four world heavyweight titles - WBA, WBO and IBF - and Fury being the WBC heavyweight champion, AJ says a unification fight will prove who is the “dominant figure” in the division.
In a video chat with Sky Sports, Joshua said: “Come fight me. If you really want to say you are number one, come fight me. Let’s get it on.
“I’ve got the rest of the belts, so it only makes sense. That proves that I’m the unified heavyweight champion of the world. He’s the WBC champion of the world.
“What that will prove, me and him fighting, is that there will be one dominant figure in the heavyweight division that will have all of the belts and become undisputed.
“So, logically, it says to prove yourself as number one, I have to fight Tyson Fury. He has to fight Anthony Joshua. And it will be cause for a great announcement after this whole pandemic we’re facing right now.”
Of course, the pandemic Joshua mentions is no small bump in the road when it comes to the likelihood of how soon this fight might take place.
With most major upcoming bouts postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak - except for some rather optimistic June and July scheduling by Frank Warren’s Queensberry and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom - it is unlikely that we will see boxing matches, certainly with crowds, by the summer.
Conversely, there is a school of thought that says the pandemic could increase the speed with which a match up between Joshua and Fury could take place.
The speculation goes that changes to their schedules mean there is a chance that Joshua might now be able to sidestep his next opponent, Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev, and that Fury could do the same with American Deontay Wilder, with who he has a third planned bout.
Of course, all these arrangements are contractual, so any such side steps would need to be in full agreement with Pulev and Wilder’s parties.
While Pulev has shown no signs of any intention to step aside, the possibility of a money offer would no doubt help ease the situation. However, it is notoriously hard to get one fighter to agree to such a request, let alone two.
In the meantime, fans will stay hopeful of seeing two of Britain’s greatest boxers come head-to-head in a unification fight, and sooner rather than later.
Whatever the outcome, it would be a historic event, and the first time in over 20 years - since Lennox Lewis beat Evander Holyfield - that we would see a true undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
