ANTHONY JOSHUA’s proposed undisputed heavyweight title fight with Tyson Fury is currently dead in the water, his promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed.
AJ was on course to share the ring with Fury in August before The Gypsy King was ordered to have a trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder.
Team Fury were hoping to reschedule the fight for December, but Hearn has revealed talks over a new date have yet to take place.
The 42-year-old told Sky Sports: “Do you know what, I think right now, let’s just forget about that fight.
“The only good thing to come out of this is that we have two good heavyweight fights.
“These aren’t marking time fights for Fury and AJ. These are two competitive, dangerous fights.
“This summer, you’ve got Fury-Wilder and hopefully AJ-Usyk as well. Two good heavyweight fights.
“Once those two nights are complete, let’s go back to where we kicked off before, because right now, there’s no conversations from the other side to us saying, ‘Let’s just get it in the diary for December or January.’ I don’t really want to get into that conversation.
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“I want AJ to focus on Oleksandr Usyk.
“Any work that takes place will go on behind closed doors, but we can’t make the same mistake that we made against Andy Ruiz, which was, ‘We just want Wilder, we just want Wilder.’”
WBC champ Fury, 32, is set to renew his rivalry with Wilder on July 24 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Joshua, meanwhile, is on course to defend his unified titles against former undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk.
The Watford warrior’s WBO mandatory is slated to take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25.
A deal for the Olympic gold medallists to trade heavy leather has been agreed.
Hearn said: “We have both alerted the WBO, myself and (Usyk’s promoter) Alex Krassyuk.
“Terms are agreed. The offer we made to them has been accepted.
“We move forward to paper that now. We are going through the contract with their team.
“It is very amicable. They have been partners of ours for a long time.
“This is a fight that could derail the career of Joshua if he’s not on it, if he’s not 100 per cent.
“AJ needs to be ruthless. He needs to show the [ruthlessness of] Derek Chisora with more cuteness and sharpness.”
