According to promoter Frank Warren, Anthony Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) is not the true king of the heavyweight division - until he defeats Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs).
Last month before a record crowd of 90,000 at Wembley in London, Joshua catapulted to the top of the ranks when he stopped Wladimir Klitschko to unify the IBF, IBO, WBA heavyweight titles.
Fury shocked Klitschko in November 2015, by winning a twelve round unanimous decision to capture the IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO world titles.
After the win over Klitschko, Fury was stripped of the IBF title for failing to make his mandatory defense. That belt was picked up by Joshua the following year, when the boxer easily knocked out Charles Martin.
In the fall of 2016, Fury vacated his WBA, WBO, IBO world titles to deal with his crumbling mental health and issues with substance abuse. The vacant WBO belt was captured by Joseph Parker in December.
Fury is now on the comeback trail - and Joshua is his main target.
"Tyson wants to fight, it's what he should be doing, fighting. I know mentally he's got himself back to where he was when he won the world title, and the game needs him. He didn't lose his titles in the ring, he vacated them, and the luck of him vacating wound up that Anthony Joshua fought a pretty easy opponent to win the title (IBF, vs Charles Martin)," Warren told BT Sports.
"And then Tyson's rematch with Klitschko, after he beat him so convincingly, fell apart when he (Fury) decided he wasn't going to fight. And that again was Anthony Joshua's gain, and the fans too because it was a fantastic fight for the both of them (against Klitschko).
"But until Joshua beats Fury, if he can beat Fury, he's not got the world title. He's looking after the belts for the man who vacated them."