On May 18, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will compete for the title of heavyweight champion.

Anthony Joshua is waiting in the wings to face the winner of the Riyadh rumbles.

Promoter Bob Arum has stated that before AJ and Fury rematch, AJ may face Fury.

After their scrap in Riyadh, the two are required by contract to rematch, most likely at the end of the year.

But Joshua may step in and take on Fury if Saudi boxing kingpin Turki Alalshikh wants to see the fight happen next, according to Fury’s co-promoter Bob Arum.

He told The Daily Mail: “What happens if Fury-Usyk turns out to be a classic?

“A fight that is so exciting and so thrilling that the public wants to see it again.

“Then that would certainly trump a Joshua fight, and contractually, it’s a fight that has to happen.

“Now, what happens if it’s a one-sided fight and Fury wins the fight?

“Then maybe everybody can sit down with His Excellency Turki Alalshikh and work out some arrangement go right to Fury-Joshua.

“If Usyk wins the fight, I don’t think there would be that much demand for an Usyk-Joshua fight because after all they fought twice and Usyk beat him twice.

“So, one fight at a time, that’s my motto.”

Arum’s belief that AJ could finally share the ring with Fury is also held by fellow promoter Eddie Hearn.

In a bizarre question involving darts star Luke Littler, Matchroom Boxing chief Hearn revealed to talkTV’s Piers Morgan his belief that the biggest fight in the sport will materialise before the end of 2024.

He said: “Because the Darts Championship happens in December and January, I’m gonna say that Fury vs AJ happens this year.

“So I’m gonna say Fury vs AJ [happens first].”

Fury and Joshua inked a lucrative two-fight deal in the summer of 2020 but haven’t come close to fighting one another.

Former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder scuppered their two-fight series by winning his arbitration for a trilogy fight with The Gypsy King.

Joshua, 34, is back in world title contention following a stellar 2023, in which he rattled off three impressive wins on the bounce.

And he picked up his third KO win in a row last month when he brutally stopped former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou in the second round of their Saudi showdown.

Anthony Joshua is riding an impressive four-fight win streak.