Joseph Parker could face IBF, WBA and IBO champion Anthony Joshua in the ring as early as July next year, at Wembley.

Trainer Kevin Barry believes Joseph Parker will find it easier fighting Anthony Joshua than he did disposing of Hughie Fury.

Barry made the eyebrow-raising call after Parker struggled to put away Fury at the weekend, winning a majority decision in Manchester to retain his WBO heavyweight belt.

"One thing is for sure," Barry told The Guardian, "we won't have to go looking for Joshua. He's going to be right there in our face."

REUTERS Joseph Parker, left, had to chase Hughie Fury around the ring on Sunday.

Parker's chance to prove that premise could come sooner than expected with The Daily Mirror reporting that a Joshua-Parker clash is being targeted for July at London's Wembley Stadium with negotiations between the two camps underway.

READ MORE:

* Parker targets KO bout next

* Shirtless Tyson Fury parties with Parker

* Barry swings at Parker's detractors

* Reason: Flatfooted Parker a hard sell

* Johnstone: Fury moans are laughable

The stand-and-deliver style of Joshua would stand in stark contrast to the tactics employed by the twinkle-toed Fury, who danced away from Parker all night.

While it wasn't quite the "shades of Ali" that his manager claimed, Fury certainly showed plenty of defensive skill.

The big Brit's problem was his total lack of threat on offence, which Barry said, caused Parker to go away from their gameplan.

"I wanted Joe to work the double jab a lot more. We actually spent the whole training camp throwing thousands of body shots. Joe sort of went a wee bit away from that. I think Joe actually got a little reckless in the early rounds. He realised as soon as he got out there that Hughie never had the power to get his respect. Hughie was never going to be able to hurt him."

Now Parker is eyeing a warm-up fight, possibly against Japan's Kyotaro Fujimoto, before what he hopes will be a unification bout with knock-out artist and IBF champion Joshua.

"I think Joseph matches up very well against Joshua and styles make fights," Barry told 5 Live Boxing.

"I've also thought his particular style will suit us.

"That's a fight we would love to be involved in."

Joshua's last appearance at Wembley Stadium, when he beat former champion Wladimir Klitschko in the fight of the year, drew a capacity crowd of roughly 90,000 to the huge outdoor venue.

Joshua must first get past Bulgaria's Kubrat Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) on October 28 at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

The 27-year-old Joshua (19-0, 19 KOs) also owns the IBO and WBA championships.