Eddie Hearn has declared that he is 'dead certain' that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua will meet in the ring before the end of 2023.
The two British heavyweights were on a collision course for a unification bout last summer but a US judge ruled that Fury must honour his rematch clause with Deontay Wilder.
While Fury emerged victorious in his bout, Joshua suffered defeat in his title defence against Oleksandr Usyk - pushing a heavyweight unification bout further into the horizon.
It's widely expected that the long-awaited unification bout will take place this year but, while Fury is likely to be there, it remains to be seen whether Joshua will win back the belts he lost.
If he does beat Usyk in the rematch, a Fury vs Joshua bout would likely take place later this year but there are fears that a second AJ defeat to Usyk would strip fans of the opportunity to see him go toe-to-toe with Fury.
However, those concerns have been downplayed by Hearn as he is confident that the pair will face-off in the ring in the not too distant future.
“I think the AJ Fury fight is still the fight. "I had a guy come up to me today and ask 'when's AJ fighting Fury'," he said on the DAZN Boxing Show.
"I'm kind of like 'well that ship's sailed a little bit, we've got a few things to work out still, and AJ is rematching Usyk'.
"And the guy says 'oh is he? Well when's the Fury fight then?' That’s the fight that people still want to see and will always be there. The bigger the better.
“That fight, I promise you, will happen, whether that’s late this year or early next year. Fury vs. AJ is a dead cert to happen because it’s too big a fight not to.”
