Eddie Hearn is ready to "sit down and make the fight" after Tyson Fury called out Anthony Joshua for a long-awaited heavyweight title bout.
WBC champion Fury is searching for a high-profile opponent for his next fight after WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO title holder Oleksandr Usyk indicated he does not intend to return to the ring until 2023.
Joshua suffered a second consecutive defeat to the Ukrainian in Saudi Arabia last month and Hearn is currently considering options for a return early next year.
But Fury threw a cat among the pigeons on Monday by opening up the possibility of a "battle of Britain", a fight long in the making between the two.
"You've all heard that I'm going to be fighting within the next few months, and before I announce an opponent I need to do this just in case," he said in a video posted to social media.
"Anthony Joshua, I know you've just lost a fight to Usyk, and I know you're belt-less at the moment, and I'd like to give you an opportunity to fight me for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world and the lineal championship in the next few months.
"You're coming off a 12-round fight so you're match fit, you're ready, I'm giving you a few months' notice. If you're interested I'll send you the date over and we can rumble - a battle of Britain for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world. Let me know if you're interested, if not I will select another opponent."
Fury, who claimed to have retired in April when he successfully defended his world title with a sixth-round stoppage of Dillian Whyte at Wembley, got a positive reaction from Joshua after following up his initial tweet.
"Yea calm," Joshua tweeted. "I don't do the online discussions just for clout, so if your really about it shout 258mgt. I'll be ready in December. Khalas."
Matchroom chief Hearn, who of course will be at the centre of any negotiations, is sceptical about the possibility but is ready to talk should Fury's team come back with a real offer to make the fight.
“I would love to get really excited about this,” Hearn told Talksport, “Because it’s the fight that I get stopped in street for more than any fight that could be made and it’s a fight that AJ has wanted for a long time.
“Don’t forget, we signed for this fight last year before the arbitration forced the Deontay Wilder fight for Tyson Fury.
“So, it’s an interesting one, because last week he retired, then he came back to fight Usyk, then he made an offer to Derek Chisora, then he wanted half a billion, then he’d retired again, then he’s fighting Usyk in December and now he’s fighting AJ.
“The message is quite clear from AJ, we don’t want to get involved in a backwards and forwards, we want the fight, it’s the fight he’s wanted for a long time.
“We had plans after the Usyk defeat to come back in December and then go again in March, get active and get the rhythm going again and then try and fight for the world heavyweight title.
“But, I know having spoken to AJ, if that fight is there and they’re serious, which I have my doubts about, but for the good of trying to make it happen let’s believe Tyson Fury and I said to George Warren last night, get the details and the offer over to us and I’ll take it to AJ, he’s ready to go.
“We didn’t expect this opportunity, but it’s a great opportunity to fight for the world title in the biggest fight in boxing and we will definitely look at it.
“For me and the cynic in boxing, this smells of, ‘Oh, we couldn’t agree the AJ deal so I’m fighting this bloke you’ve never heard of instead, but no one else was available.’
“But let’s take the cynic away and see what we get back from the Fury camp, because we’re ready to discuss it and we’re ready to make that fight for sure.”
He added: “Fury’s outstanding at getting the public to believe absolute nonsense. It worries me actually what people do believe, if you look at the timeline over the last two or three weeks, it’s unbelievably bizarre.
“Personally, I don’t believe Fury is serious about this, but if he is, which I said to the Warrens last night, 100 percent we will sit down and make the fight.”
