Eddie Hearn, promoter for WBO, IBF, WBA, IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, believes his fighter's future plans could be dictated by mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk.

Joshua is already making a mandatory defense, for the IBF, against Kubrat Pulev on June 20th.

Usyk is the mandatory challenger under the WBO, who have already ordered Joshua to face him.

Usyk is slated to fight Derek Chisora in the coming months, with the bout taking place on May 23.

Should he win that fight, he would be in a very strong position to negotiate for Joshua's next fight.

Hearn is hoping to match Joshua, should he beat Pulev, against the winner of the July trilogy fight between WBC champion Tyson Fury and challenger Deontay Wilder.

Joshua and Fury are tremendous favorites to win their respective fights.

Hearn would like Joshua vs. Fury to take place in the month of December.

But, a full division unification could face some resistance from Usyk.

"The big problem there is that Usyk must fight the winner of Pulev against Anthony Joshua. The only way he mustn't is if he waits maybe a month, or maybe there's an agreement to vacate after. I don't know, but sometimes things like that are solvable," Hearn told Sky Sports.

"He's got a little task ahead of him on May 23. He might not be mandatory challenger on May 24, if Derek Chisora has got anything to say about it. That is a monstrous fight at The O2 Arena. We'll announce next week in full."

Joshua had already stated in a previous interview that he's expecting to face Usyk in the not too distance future and already began studying his style.

"I've actually been preparing for a southpaw, because some time down the line, I know I'll fight Usyk anyway, so the smart thing to do would be to start preparing, start sharpening my tools," Joshua told Sky Sports.

"That's the brilliant thing now. I know I'm fighting, like two to three times a year, so it gives me enough time to actually practice and start working on certain aspects."