Tyson Fury vs Anthony Joshua: Could there actually be a path to making the all-British heavyweight super-fight happen?

Frank Warren, who co-promotes Fury, told the Toe2Toe podcast: "There are contractual commitments and they will have to be fulfilled."

But he believes the landscape of heavyweight boxing will continue to develop.

Of the other heavyweight contenders Warren said: "They're all going to be trying to get themselves into a position to have a fight for one of the mandatory [positions] or fight for a vacant title if the titles fragment again, which I hope they won't.

"It's like a renaissance in boxing. Big cards are happening, which we could never under normal circumstances put together because they wouldn't work out financially but because they're part of this event, Riyadh season, it's great for the fans.

"The heavyweight division, it's never been as lively as this."

A path for Anthony Joshua to fight for a world championship once more could open up this year.

Hearn said: "It's going to be interesting. Obviously, a lot's got to happen, AJ's got to beat Ngannou and Fury's got to beat Usyk. One of the reasons that we took the Ngannou fight is because we knew it could take us there quicker because of the vision out there.

"It does look like it [Fury vs Joshua] is close but everyone's got a job to do first.

"We signed for Joshua against [Deontay] Wilder and we were an hour away from announcing it in the ring and then Joseph Parker goes and beats him. So anything can happen."

Ngannou will only be having his second professional boxing contest when he fights Joshua next month. That bout then will be a tall order for a mixed martial artist taking on a seasoned former champion.

But in his pro debut, Ngannou did manage to drop Fury. In that sense, he will pose a threat.

"You've got two immovable objects, two massive men and Ngannou is huge," Hearn said. "AJ should be much too good for him but this is the heavyweight division and it's a very dangerous test.

"All that matters is March 8 for us, because anything can happen in that fight.

"For me this is a performance that has to encompass discipline and brutality."

Joshua did look in form when he boxed Otto Wallin last time out, handily stopping the Swede in five rounds.

"In the changing room before the Wallin fight when he was hitting pads with Ben [Davison, in a new training partnership], I've never seen anything like it and I've never seen him like it. The noise every time he hit the pads was like a cannon going off," Hearn said.