WBC heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury is in talks to face the winner of Anthony Joshua’s rematch against Oleksandr Usyk despite having repeatedly spoken of hanging up his gloves, the Daily Mail newspaper reported.

Fury knocked out fellow Briton Dillian Whyte in front of a sell-out crowd at Wembley Stadium in April to retain his heavyweight crown, telling fans afterwards it was unlikely he would fight again.

His wife, Paris, later told BT Sport that he would return only for a title unification bout.

Usyk-Joshua rematch ‘most likely’ on August 20: promoter

Usyk beat Joshua at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September last year to seize the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said in February that the rematch with Usyk would take place in May.

However, the bout has since been delayed several times after Usyk returned home to Ukraine to join a territorial defence battalion following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.