Anthony Joshua has admitted that without beating Tyson Fury, even a win over Oleksandr Usyk won't crown him as the best heavyweight in the world.
There are two schools of thought amongst boxing fans when it comes to who is the world's top heavyweight, with Fury holding the WBC title and Usyk defending the other three. But Joshua believes that for either he or Usyk to cement themselves as the best heavyweight in the world, they would need to defeat his fellow Brit afterwards.
Prior to Joshua being forced into a mandatory title defence against Usyk last September, he had agreed terms to face Fury in Saudi Arabia, but the deal fell apart at the last minute. And now the Manchester native is claiming that he has retired from boxing, and won't be back for an undisputed title fight.
"Unless he's 100 per cent retired, you've got to beat Fury as well," Joshua told Sky Sports News when asked if the winner of his bout with Usyk is the best in the world. "This isn't about Fury, with all due respect. That's just my view on that. As it stands you're just a winner, you're a winner at the end of the day.
"There's always another challenge out there. Until you retire you're always going to be challenged to prove you're the best in the world. The minute you say you're the best is the minute you should pack up. That's enough on that Tyson Fury situation."
Most boxing fans and experts, including friends of Fury's, believe that he is not truly done with the sport having just turned 34 last week. He recently flirted with the idea of a comeback to face Derek Chisora, his twice former opponent and ex-friend, but couldn't get a deal done and confirmed last week that he intends to stay retired from the sport.
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But he continues to train in his Morecambe base, and is currently in camp with Joseph Parker for his upcoming showdown with Joe Joyce next month. He has previously indicated that having never lost the unified belts after his first world title win over Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, he believes there's no more to prove in the sport.
But the allure of becoming the first ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era could prove alluring for Fury, who also admits to enjoying history-making fights. His last bout with Dillian Whyte, a mandatory defence of his WBC belt, saw him return home to 94,000 fans at Wembley stadium.
And should Joshua get past Usyk this weekend, an all-British undisputed clash between he and Fury would be one of the biggest fights in the sport's history. But the Brit is an underdog with bookies, having been comfortably beaten in his last outing by the undefeated Ukrainian, and will need to be fully focused in order to get the victory.
