Veteran trainer Peter Fury believes Kubrat Pulev is a formidable foe for a showdown with Anthony Joshua.

Earlier this week, the IBF ordered Joshua to make a mandatory defense against Pulev.

Last Saturday, Joshua reclaimed the WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO world titles with a twelve round unanimous decision over Andy Ruiz in their highly anticipated rematch in Saudi Arabia.

Joshua has yet to make a decision on his next opponent - as the WBO have ordered him to make a mandatory defense against Oleksandr Usyk.

But Pulev appears to be the frontrunner to land the title shot.

And Pulev got to that mandatory position by defeating Peter Fury's son, Hughie Fury, in a final eliminator last year.

"Kubrat Pulev is a very good boxer," Peter Fury told Sky Sports. "He learned a lot from the [Wladimir] Klitschko fight where he got himself chinned. He's more defensive and he's got a very, very good jab. He's tough, but he doesn't hold a lot of power.

"He's a force to be reckoned with and he won't be easy. It's a good fight. Anything can happen at this level of fights. He's a very patient man, Pulev. He doesn't have knockout power, but he's a good boxer, and he's very wise in that ring. He just seems to do enough and control it."

While Fury praises the boxing ability of Pulev, he also notes that he doesn't have the same kind of power as Ruiz - which in turn will also Joshua to be more aggressive in the fight.

"I think he can take more risks, because Pulev doesn't hold the same amount of power," said Peter Fury. "But you can't make a mistake, because all of these heavyweights can hit.

"I think it's going to be an intriguing fight. I think Joshua will look even better in this one. I expect him [Joshua] to let the ropes go and relax more, because the amount of pressure is not there now. Let's look at Ruiz as his bogeyman, he's come through that now mentally and physically, and he will have grown from it."