Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua is the “biggest heavyweight match in the world”, according to Top Rank president Todd DuBoef, who believes the fight could finally happen this year.
Joshua returns against Jermaine Franklin on Saturday night at The O2 in London, with the British star admitting he can no longer claim to be the world’s best heavyweight.
But victory over the American could propel Joshua back towards a big-name fight and DuBoef, who has a leading role in Fury’s US promotional team, would welcome a blockbuster British battle in 2023.
“I’ve always said that that is the fight,” DuBoef told Sky Sports.
“Both of them have great brands, huge fanbases, and fortunately both of them come from the UK, so it’s wonderful that your country has been able to produce these incredible prizefighters.
“That fight is always there, and, to me, is the biggest heavyweight match in the world, because of the personalities and the stories.”
Fury’s future plans remains unclear after talks for an undisputed world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk collapsed this month.
“The frustration is for all of us,” said DuBoef. “All of us are frustrated, right?
“And I think timing has been an issue with trying to make this fight happen. I’m not going to say never, but I think we all want to see this unification, and we all have hope.
DuBoef admits everyone is frustrated the bout between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk is no longer happening
“But there was a timeline that was set up, and it just got ahead of everybody and it became very tight. Fortunately, there’s always hope and an opportunity because I think both fighters really know that this is what the sport wants, and what they want.
“So, motivation is there, timing was more of the issue on this.”
But DuBoef insists Fury could still face Usyk and Joshua within the next nine months.
“That’s the way we move,” he said. “We move with immediacy, and we move trying to figure out and get rationality to a situation.
“I think we’ve always wanted this fight for Fury and Joshua, and we’ve wanted to see Fury and Usyk, and Tyson has wanted that, and the Warrens, and we’ve worked hard in getting this done.
“I would love to see, and you’ve just laid out a great 2023 for the Fury side, if we could do Usyk and Joshua this year, it would be fantastic.”