Anthony Joshua could fight for a world title as soon as September after Oleksandr Usyk is stripped of one of his belts.

The Ukrainian became the first undisputed heavyweight king in 25 years with his thrilling points victory over Tyson Fury in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Fury’s team has indicated he will take the rematch, which is planned for October, back in Riyadh. In that case, it is unlikely that all four belts would be on the line again, with the IBF set to strip Usyk of their title for not fighting number one contender, currently Filip Hrgovic, the Croatian who is due to fight Britain’s Daniel Dubois in Riyadh on June 1.

Eddie Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, reckons it is unlikely Usyk will be stripped of the IBF strap in time for that belt to be on the line in Hrgovic vs Dubois. However, it could be on the line when Joshua potentially faces the winner of that bout at Wembley in September.

“He can step in and fight anybody,” Hearn told Boxing News on Thursday. “But if the rematch takes place, it’s very likely that AJ fights the winner of Hrgovic-Dubois. We’ll see what happens, anything is possible.”

Meanwhile, Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren, still expects the rematch to go ahead as well. He said: “There will be a rematch and that will be confirmed and announced in due course.

Anthony Joshua could yet fight Tyson Fury later this year, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.

The Gypsy King is recovering from the first loss of his professional career at the weekend. He was downed by Oleksandr Usyk and missed out on the chance to become the heavyweight’s undisputed champion with the Ukraine star now holding all the belts.

Fury is entitled to a rematch that is scheduled for October, but that would mean that he would need to resume training in August following a brief break. The 35-year-old spoke of the need to take some time off, but Hearn has speculated that the two Brits could finally go at it or a third bought with Usyk could be on the cards.

He told Matchroom’s YouTube channel, “I don’t think Tyson Fury is gonna be over the moon with five or six weeks off, but that’s the obligation, there’s a lot of money. Who knows? If Usyk’s injured, can’t make the date, do you make Fury against Joshua – with the winner fighting Usyk? I mean the answer for me is, ‘Yes, please.’

“But it’s down to His Excellency [Turki Al-Sheikh] and the fighters to make the decisions. They have a contracted rematch, but they have to be physically able to make that date, and I guess that’s the next obstacle to overcome.”

Joshua last fought in March when he downed Francis Ngannou, but since 2019 has lost to Andy Ruiz Jr and Usyk on two occasions, meaning he’s had to wait for a shot at getting his belts back.

There has long been talk of Joshua and Fury getting it on in the past but it never materialised with each camp blaming each other for that reality. The pair went at each other on social media with Fury putting AJ and his team on a timer to get the deal done.

Hearn later told TalkSport that Fury was unrealistic with his timings, but insisted Joshua would never duck a fight. He said, “I mean the fact is, huge fights like this don’t get made in two weeks. That’s the reality, when two guys have huge commercial deals with different broadcasters, it takes time.

“And we worked away with George Warren and it was actually going very, very well. Tyson Fury put us on the clock – on a 48-hour clock where the contract was nowhere near ready.”

Fury’s mind this year is likely to be on getting revenge on Usyk with the Gypsy King believing he in fact won the fight in Saudi Arabia. “I believe I won that fight,” he said. “I believe he won a few of the rounds, but I won the majority of them, and I believe it was one of those what-can-you-do, one of them… decisions in boxing.”

British-Nigerian boxer Anthony Joshua has revealed that he is not afraid to die because even after death he would still “live on.”

According to him, he is made up of many past generations and he will be part of his future generations to come.

The former world champion wrote on his Snapchat page: “Don’t be afraid to die as you will always live on one way or another.

“In the sense I am Anthony Joshua but I am a make up of many past generations and I will be part of my future generations to come one I create life and pass on.

“Physiologically, I will die – but if I create life I live on.

“When they say you are so much like your granddad or your grandma, you are them and if you knew your great great grand parents it will be the same thing said.”