WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has rejected the suggestion that he's avoiding a potential full division unification with IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO champion Anthony Joshua.

The two beltholders were in line to face each other on August 14th in Saudi Arabia.

Fury will collide with Wilder for a third time on July 24 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“I’m absolutely quaking in my boots, for the big bodybuilder. I’m sh!tting myself because them muscles are terrifying. Listen, at the end of the day I’ve never avoided anybody in my career," Fury told Gareth Davies of Talk Sport.

“Wilder’s the most dangerous fighter on this planet. I’m giving this fighter – the most dangerous puncher in the history of our sport – three chances in a row to beat me. That takes a lot of balls to do that. Three opportunities playing with fire, playing with an atomic bomb.

"It’s very risky business to say the least. You’ve got one man who’s quick as lightning, who can knock you out with one punch [in me]. And you’ve got one guy who doesn’t have a great engine [in Joshua], that gasses out after three or four punches. He looks good, but looks can be deceiving. If it was about looks, I wouldn’t be heavyweight champion of the world, would I? Definitely not, I’d be a road sweeper.”

Joshua is going to make a mandatory defense against Oleksandr Usyk.

Should Fury and Joshua come away with victories, there is no guarantee of a unification showdown at the end of the year.

However, Fury wants to stay busy and full intends to fight for a second time this year - against Joshua or someone else in-between. 

“One thing I will say is though – if I now get through this fight injury free and get the victory, I’ll be looking to fight again this year, for sure. If I get through Wilder then we’ll see who’s available after that and who’s out there," Fury said.

“I might take a voluntary defense. Look at the people I’ve had to fight in my last couple of fights. I was Wilder’s mandatory. So we’ll see if I can get a keep-busy fight in between.”