A potential clash between cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua is on the cards after the Ukrainian beat Tony Bellew on Saturday night.
Usyk retained his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO world titles after stopping Bellew in the eighth round in Manchester.
The 31-year-old signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom stable last summer, with the hope of stepping up and fighting four-belt heavyweight champion Joshua.
Hearn, who promotes Joshua, said: “Getting to Joshua was one of the many reasons Usyk signed with us and agreed to fight Bellew.
“Then they said they want to step up to heavyweight straight away and take on someone like Joseph Parker or Dillian Whyte before fighting Joshua. I said I can deliver all that. Joshua is their ultimate target. And AJ wants to fight him.
“Usyk is going to be very popular in the British market now. There are so many great fights for him.
“Whyte and Dereck Chisora are having their rematch in December and I’d like Usyk to be ringside for that. Then there’s Alexander Povetkin, Joseph Parker, Jarrell Miller — all kinds of opportunities.”
