Anthony Joshua has been named as a contender to become the mandatory challenger to Tyson Fury's WBC world heavyweight title in a move which could force a fight between the pair.
Mauricio Sulaiman, the president of the WBC, has stated that following Fury's previous failures to agree a deal to face Oleksandr Usyk in a unification fight, a mandatory challenger could be named. Joshua, ranked third with the WBC, returned to the ring in April, beating Jermaine Franklin via knockout to bounce back from successive defeats to Usyk.
Sulaiman heads the WBC's board, with the sanctioning body holding the power to force Fury's hand as he plans his next fight. The 34-year-old has held the WBC title since beating Deontay Wilder in February 2020, but Sulaiman has now demanded action, with Fury risking losing his wold champion status should he fail to comply.
"We have to take some action," Sulaiman explained in an interview with Sky Sports. "There are different options. I'm going to address this with the board of governors, because already we're entering June and there's no scenario. Tyson Fury will make us proud and show who the WBC champion is.
Fury has been out of action since December, with his last two wins being comfortable knockouts against Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora. Now, he will be expected to face one of the top contenders, with the original plan being for the winner of Deontay Wilder and Andy Ruiz's fight to be the final eliminator for the prize of a fight with Fury.
However, that fight has also fallen through and Sulaiman continued to outline the situation following the latest developments, with Joshua's opportunity explained. When asked if Joshua could be Fury's next opponent, Sulaiman said: "That's a possibility. If Wilder and Ruiz are not fighting for the final elimination, Joshua's right there at No 3. That's possible.
"I don't want to speculate because that would be irresponsible to try to make something up. We have to go through a process. The WBC board of governors will make that decision.
"At this stage anything is possible. There's too much talent, too many great fights, too many great combinations that could be made for heavyweight and everything is stalled."
Recent days have seen talks reignited for Fury to face Usyk, with the Ukrainian signing with a new promotional company in a bid to secure a deal to make the biggest fight of his career. The 35-year-old has not fought since beating Joshua in Saudi Arabia in August and is believed to have Fury in his sights as he plans to put his WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring heavyweight titles on the line.
He will, however, have to fight before then, with the mandatory challenger for his WBA belt being the WBA (Regular) champion Daniel Dubois, with their fight expected to take place in August.
