Fury faces Usyk on February 17 in Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCredit: Getty

Boxing is set to have an undisputed heavyweight champion for the first time since Lennox Lewis held the crown 25 years ago.

Joshua’s next fight is against Otto Wallin on December 23 and a win could help him seal a future bout against Fury.

But in the meantime, AJ is firmly supporting the Ukrainian.

He told TNT Sports: “I don’t know [who wins] but I’m team Usyk anyway.

“There’s a respect, but Fury’s said a lot of bad things about me.

“I’m never going to ride with someone that disrespects me.

“That would make me a lunatic and I’m pretty level-headed so I’m going to go with the person who shows me respect.”

Joshua was then quizzed on if he would still be keen to face Fury should Usyk clinch victory.

He stressed he would be although time is running out for a much-anticipated all British clash.

AJ said: “For the entertainment factor, yeah.

“It’s getting drawn out a bit though. They’ll have two fights. The first one and then the rematch. Maybe that’ll be Fury’s only two fights next year.

“Hopefully he can sneak one in at the end of the year with me, but that draws it out for another twelve months before I see Fury.

“But we got Deontay Wilder anyway, or we got Joseph Parker. We got other big fights.”