By Edward Chaykovsky

Peter Fury, uncle and head trainer of WBO/WBA/IBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, is favoring Charles Martin to retain his IBF world title with a victory over unbeaten powerhouse Anthony Joshua.

Martin-Joshua is scheduled for April 9th at the O2 Arena in London, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Martin (23-0-1, 21 KOs) captured the world last month with TKO in three of previously undefeated Czar Glazkov.

Joshua, a 2012 Olympic gold medal winner, is the betting favorite to win the contest. He raised his record to 15-0 with 15 knockouts in December with a knockout win over domestic rival Dillian Whyte in seven rounds.

Peter Fury feels Joshua is still very raw and feels he is taking on a fighter like Martin just a little bit too early in his career.

He told Sky Sports: "I think differently. I think it's a hard fight for AJ. It's not an easy [fight] for him. He needs full credit. He's had 15 fights, is very raw still and has a lot to learn as far as I can see. The potential is there. He can definitely box, he can fight. He's a talent but like I said, I think it's early. I'd have to favor to Charles Martin, to be honest. This is boxing and anything can happen.

"It's for an IBF world title. Where can AJ go? He's on pay-per-view now and needs to fight good opposition, so why not go straight in to the lion's den and fight for the world title? He could beat Martin - I'm not saying he can't. For me, Martin is a stiff test for Joshua. Make no mistake. Martin is relaxed and slick. He punches accurately. He's tall, he's southpaw and he can box. This guy isn't someone you're going to hit and isn't going to hit back. AJ will be in a serious contest with this guy.

"I've seen Martin box Tom Dallas, which was not much when you look at it, and I saw him against Vyacheslav Glazkov, but he certainly knows what he's doing. Is he a supreme world champion? I can't say that because I haven't seen enough of him but he looks OK to me and he's no pushover."