Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua have circled one another through much of their professional careers.
They have each won multiple world championships, belts which both of them have now lost and will fight to reclaim.
Joshua boxes Britain’s Daniel Dubois for the IBF heavyweight title at Wembley Stadium on September 21, live on Sky Sports Box Office, while Tyson Fury will try to win back the WBO, WBA and WBC belts in his December rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.
But eventually the paths of Fury and Joshua, two great heavyweight rivals, could still intersect, even if they don’t necessarily win their next fights.
“I always felt that AJ and Tyson would fight at some point. At some point. Win, lose or whatever,” Todd DuBoef, president of Fury’s US promoters Top Rank, told Sky Sports.
“It’s like Batman and Robin. They go together. I just feel like at some point they’re going to fight regardless of what their body of work is, regardless of how they come out of fights.
“I think they both have great fanbases, they both come from a wonderful country with history.
“We’ve had this wonderful heavyweight renaissance, the UK being the epicentre of it, so I’ve always felt like they’ll fight at some point.”
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Daniel Dubois discusses his heated face-off with Anthony Joshua and celebrates his birthday with a huge right hand through an AJ-branded cake
That is just his instinct. Fury and Joshua themselves are focused on their immediate challenges against Usyk and Dubois respectively.
But it also comes from his reading of boxing history. Fights between fierce rivals, who have similar statures in the sport, can be a long time in the making. But they tend to get made in the end.
“I think there’s a lot of bragging rights and they’ve had a rivalry for 15 years or whatever it is and I don’t think it ever goes away,” DuBoef said of Fury and Joshua.
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Fabio Wardley believes Anthony Joshua has regained his vicious streak and will be full of confidence when he faces Daniel Dubois
“Mayweather-Pacquiao eventually happened. There were rivalries for 10 years and eventually they happened. I just think it makes sense at one point.
“You see history, you see how things happen,” he continued. “I think timing is everything.
“At some point I think they lock it up and they get in the ring together. It makes all the sense in the world.
“I can see it happening no matter what.”
Anthony Joshua’s heavyweight showdown with Daniel Dubois takes place on Saturday September 21 live on Sky Sports Box Office. Book Joshua v Dubois now!