Veteran trainer Peter Fury, who is the uncle of WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, views Oleksandr Usyk as a "serious threat" to the reign of Anthony Joshua.

Joshua will defend the WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO heavyweight straps against Usyk on September 25.

Usyk unified the entire cruiserweight division in 2018 - and made his heavyweight debut the following year.

He had a tougher time than expected in winning a twelve round unanimous decision over division veteran Derek Chisora in October.

Since that fight, Usyk has continued to pack on size to make himself a true heavyweight.

"He's [Usyk] very dangerous," said Peter Fury to Sky Sports.

"It's not a walk in the park. Forget cruiserweight. This guy, he's had a couple of fights in the heavyweight division, he's adjusted, he's put the necessary weight on. He's a serious heavyweight and a serious talent, so it will be a good fight."

Both fighters captured gold medals in the Olympic games in 2012 - with Joshua winning at super heavyweight and Usyk at heavyweight.

While there are some observers who don't believe Usyk has the adequate power to be a legitimate threat at the weight, Peter Fury disagrees.

"Yes, of course he has [enough power to gain Joshua's respect]," Peter Fury said.

"He's an accurate puncher and anybody in the fight trade knows when you're in that body weight bracket, when you're punching correctly, any punchers can do damage.

"Yes, he belongs in the division and he's a serious threat. It's a serious fight. Full credit to Joshua for taking that fight. I think it will ultimately be a battle of skills, because you can't run into danger. It's a fight that I'm looking forward to see. It's a great fight, a good match-up."