Anthony Joshua’s ears must have been burning when the new date for Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk was announced.

Last week, the undisputed heavyweight world title clash was postponed from February 17 to May 18 due to a cut suffered in sparring by Fury.

Anthony Joshua vs Francis Ngannou is set for March 8Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom

Within 24 hours of the news breaking of the bout being delayed, a new date was confirmed.

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh (chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, who are staging the fight) announced this on a joint live stream with both Fury and Usyk.

During the stream he also revealed what will happen if either man does not fight on the rearranged date.

Firstly, Alalshikh said both boxers have promised to forfeit $10million if they pull out.

He added that if Fury pulls out, Usyk will get to face an opponent of his choosing on May 18.

And if Usyk pulls out, he wants to make Fury vs Joshua on May 18.

Joshua is first set to face Francis Ngannou on March 8, with many believing this would likely be too quick of a turnaround for him to then fight Fury or Usyk.

However, his promoter Eddie Hearn has now told talkSPORT Fight Night: “We’ll be ready.

Fury vs Usyk has been pushed back to May 18Credit: Top Rank

“The amazing thing with Anthony is he will be boxing four times in 11 months, which has been brilliant for him.

“It’s so refreshing for his career after so many periods of inactivity through COVID and dealing with big stadium fights and mandatory obligations and people messing around.

“He will need a rest at some point, but if he comes through Ngannou well and that opportunity presented itself, I would think he’d be ready to fight Fury or Usyk.”