And Hearn says a fight between Joshua and Fury will be “even bigger” if both men succesfully defend their belts to set up an undisputed heavyweight showdown.

“If AJ knocks out Usyk and Fury knocks out Wilder then in four months we are talking about an even bigger fight,” added Hearn.

“One could lose or look bad but I do get the feeling if they both win then the fight is huge. I am hoping it works out for the best.”

Usyk, 34, is a former undisputed world cruiserweight champion and has 18 wins from 18 bouts.

Hearn added: “AJ knows how good Usyk is but he wants to do a job on him because he also knows people are unsure about him winning the fight and I think he likes that.

“He has done four weeks of southpaw sparring up in Sheffield and he is gearing himself up for a big fight. We just hope that everywhere is open because we want to do 60-70,000 at Spurs.”