Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury will be on a collision course if they both win their next fights.
The British heavyweight rivals have long been linked to each other but so far the fight has eluded fans.
But with the big money coming out of Saudi Arabia right now, a fight between the pair is inevitable.
At least that’s the view of Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn.
The 34-year-old Joshua 27-3 (24) will face former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou 0-1 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Friday night.
WBC heavyweight titleholder Fury 34-0-1 (24) will meet WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion Oleksandr Usyk 21-0 (14) at the same venue on May 18.
Hearn remains confident that if both boxers come through their respective bouts victorious and unscathed, chair of General Authority for Entertainment in Saudi Arabia, Turki Al-Sheikh, will push to get the fight made.
“For us, this is the fast road to undisputed. You’ve seen what [Joshua] did to Otto Wallin. People believe in him now. You saw Fury against Ngannou,” the Matchroom Boxing boss said to Sky Sports.
“Now all of a sudden, people are going, ‘AJ might take Fury out’. I’m telling you, he knocks Tyson Fury out, but we’ve just got to get over this hurdle on Friday night and I know that His Excellency will have AJ stopping Ngannou and Fury beating Usyk – fingers crossed – [then] there is no way in the world he will not make that fight.
“It will be the biggest fight in boxing. One of the biggest fights of our generation and in all time of the history of the sport, AJ against Tyson Fury.
“But it is all irrelevant if he doesn’t win Friday and then May 18, Tyson Fury has to beat Usyk.”
Hearn continued: “The landlord is in town to collect his rent, that’s what it is. Come over. Knock Ngannou out. Do a job. Get paid. Go back and smash up the winner of Fury-Usyk.
“Some call us deluded but that is the mindset. Anthony Joshua is going to be undisputed champion but he has this massive hurdle in front of him on Friday night.
“The pressure is always on him, it has been for many years. He has been carrying British boxing since winning the Olympics in 2012. He has realised at this stage of his career that he has to do it for himself.
“It is a massive risk against little reward because most people are expecting him to beat a UFC fighter.
“[Ngannou] is probably more than a UFC fighter. We saw in the Fury fight someone that was very competent, very confident, someone with huge power who is incredibly strong.
“I’ll be honest with you, the knees were trembling a little bit when I saw the size of him at the grand arrivals. He is a man mountain and he is full of heart. You know AJ has to be switched on.”