Kevin Barry, the head trainer for Joseph Parker, does not expect the WBO to force Anthony Joshua to vacate his world title.

Joshua was ordered by the WBO to make a mandatory defense against Oleksandr Usyk, while the IBF ordered Joshua to face his mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev.

Pulev is the next probable opponent for Joshua, who would then face Usyk in the summer.

If Joshua had to vacate the WBO belt - then the sanctioning body would order a fight between Usyk and Parker, who is ranked at number 2 in their top ten.

Barry says they are looking for several other options for the future, including a clash with Derek Chisora.

The next fight for Parker is slated for February 29 in Texas. The card is headlined by a welterweight clash between Mikey Garcia and Jessie Vargas.

"In the background, we've been anxiously waiting to see two things - one if the WBO would strip Joshua, or if Joshua would not want anyone else to fight Usyk. We're sitting there at No 2 in the world with the WBO. If that was going to happen, we were going to get the fight with Usyk that we were very, very keen on and one that we're very confident in. It's looking least likely now that fight is going to happen," Barry told Sky Sports.

"I try to look at every scenario. I talked with [WBO president] Paco [Valcarcel] last week. I just said to him, don't you think if the WBO took that belt off Joshua, and Parker and Usyk, two former WBO world champions fought each other, then the winner of that fight would fight Joshua in the summer and it would be a unification fight.

"The other option was - would Joshua perceive that as a risk and missing out on a mega payday? I honestly believe what we're going to see is Usyk [choosing to wait] and he will fight Joshua in the summer, providing Joshua blows out Pulev, which he should look spectacular doing. I would love nothing more than the opportunity for us to fight Usyk, but the reality of it is, I don't think it's going to happen."