ANTHONY JOSHUA's long-awaited showdown with fellow Brit Tyson Fury could take place in 'late January or February'.
The pair were due to face off in a blockbuster showdown in Saudi Arabia next month before Fury was ordered to have a trilogy fight with Deontay Wilder.
The hope was to stage the Battle of Britain in the winter after The Gypsy King's trilogy fight with Wilder on July 24, which has been delayed following an outbreak of Covid-19 in the WBC champ's camp.
Fury vs Wilder III is now expected to take place in October, a delay that has ended promoter Eddie Hearn's hopes of an end-of-year unification bout.
The Matchroom Boxing chief told iFL TV: "I think that was pretty much the case anyway.
"But fighting September 25, it's very difficult to do a fight in December.
" And a lot of our conversations now about the undisputed fight are end of Jan, February.
"So it probably helps. Fury might've wanted to do another fight in November or December.
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"And then the whole thing is, like, never-ending."
A new date for Fury vs Wilder III has yet to be finalised, and Hearn has serious doubts about the pair's third encounter going ahead.
He added: "I don't even know if it'll happen in October, to be honest with you. Who knows?
"But at least if this fight does happen and AJ beats [Oleksandr] Usyk successfully, then we've bought fought around the same time and then we can try and make the undisputed fight.
"But as I've said to you, I don't trust anything that's said.
"So even the undisputed fight right now, yeah, we can stress how much we've always wanted to do it and we're ready to make the deal at any time."
At this moment in time, Hearn and Joshua are both focused on September's showdown with former undisputed cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk.
Hearn said: "All the focus is on now is the next fight for Anthony Joshua, being successful in that fight and moving forward with his career."
Joshua, 31, will defend his unified heavyweight titles against Ukraine's Usyk at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on September 25.
AJ is currently training for his clash with his fellow Olympian in Marbella, but SunSport understands he'll soon return to the UK to complete his camp at the Olympic training facility in Sheffield.
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