Following AJ’s meteoric resurgence, it’s the fight boxing fans are craving.

Former professional boxer Johnny Nelson feels a mouthwatering all-British showdown between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will depend on ‘The Gypsy King’s’ result this weekend.

Fury is expected to go toe-to-toe with Oleksandr Usyk this weekend for the undisputed heavyweight world titles. The winner of this fight will become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999 when he beat Evander Holyfield.

The 35-year-old struggled, having been knocked down in his last fight against Francis Ngannou; however, he’ll be looking to make a statement in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

A win will further reignite interest in a potential clash between Fury and Joshua. Since joining forces with Fury’s former trainer Ben Davison late last year in preparation for his win over Otto Wallin, AJ has looked better than ever as he eyes another crack at a world title. Most recently, the 34-year-old sensational knocked out Ngannou back in March. He landed a devastating right hand to topple the MMA heavyweight, putting him out cold in a terrifying scene.

With Joshua set to return to action later this year, while an opponent is yet to be decided, he’ll no doubt have one eye on a fight with ‘The Gypsy King’ within the next year.

Johnny Nelson Shares His Thoughts on a Potential Clash Between Fury and Joshua

It’s the fight boxing fans all want to see

While the boxing faithful are chomping at the bit to witness a blockbuster fight between Fury and Joshua, Nelson remains slightly sceptical about the chances of the fight happening and it all depends on what happens between ‘The Gypsy King’ and Usyk.

”That fight will always be there, but let’s remember Usyk beat Anthony Joshua twice comprehensively,” Nelson said, who was speaking to GiveMeSport on behalf of sports betting site BetVictor ”He beat him the first time and AJ got it wrong and went back to the drawing board and even going back to the drawing board wasn’t good enough to beat Usyk, let’s not forget this.

”So, usually, when you got the second crack at the whip, you get turned over again, if you’re never gonna win, you’re never gonna win. Now, so you look at AJ’s performance against Ngannou and you look at Tyson’s performance against Ngannou, you see, styles make fights. So, it’ll be a completely different fight.”

With Joshua looking the best he’s been since the back-to-back defeats to Usyk, Nelson insists a win for the Ukrainian this weekend could scrap a potential showdown between Fury and AJ.

“I think the collision course for AJ and Tyson will be on depending on if Tyson Fury losses to Usyk this weekend, the fashion of the loss. That’s what it depends on. Because even though everybody around him commercially say ‘look, it’s still a big moneymaker, you two fighting each other’, Tyson Fury is an emotional animal. Will he be able to get over getting beat up by a ‘gapped teeth jumped up cruiserweight,’ so he says. No, he won’t.

“So I think that’ll absolutely ruin him if he did lose badly and the chances of him and AJ fighting have gone.”

Saudi boxing chief Turki Alalshikh is already preparing for the rematch between Fury and Usyk. Regardless of the result on the 18th of May, the pair won’t have to wait long to share the ring again.

An immediate rematch was a contractual clause agreed to when Fury and Usyk agreed to meet for the undisputed heavyweight championship of the world – and Alalshikh has already booked the contest to kick-off the latest edition of Riyadh Season.

Speaking to ESPN, His Excellency called Fury vs Usyk the “crown jewel of his efforts” to rebuild the sport of boxing and declared that he plans to stage the rematch on either the 12th or 13th of October this year. That means that both men will have less than five months to recover from their first encounter before being obliged to step back into the ring.

Should Fury come away from the two potential clashes with Usyk unscathed, the next fight that makes the most sense in the heavyweight division is AJ.

That said, Joshua – who is expected to return to the ring in September – must also get through his next fight in order to set up a possible showdown with his fellow countryman.

The Brit Reveals Four Potential Opponents for His Return

‘AJ’ is eyeing up longtime rival Deontay Wilder

Joshua, 34, recently discussed his potential next opponent, revealing that Turki Alalshikh has a plan for the event at Wembley Stadium in the UK. A win in September will no doubt further reignite talks of a showdown with Fury in 2025.

“On June 1 in Saudi Arabia, they’ve got the 5 vs 5 card. You’ve got Filip Hrgovic vs Daniel Dubois, and you’ve got Zhilei Zhang vs Deontay Wilder,” he told talksSPORT.

“So providing one of those looks good – the one who looks the best, His Excellency Turki Alalshikh said to me, ‘I want you to fight [him].’ What he says is, ‘In the future I want people to look back at your record and say that you took on the best.’

“I said, ‘Now you’re speaking my language.’ So out of that pool, I believe that’s who I’m gonna be fighting, one of those. We’re on the same page and he’s on the same page as the fans as well. He’s trying to deliver what the fans want, I know they want that big fight with Tyson Fury and he’s working on it.

“But Fury’s got his obligations with Oleksandr Usyk so I’ve gotta make sure I stay focused and disciplined, keep steamrolling through opponents so I can get closer and closer to having the opportunity of me vs Tyson Fury.”