Tyson Fury says a showdown with Anthony Joshua would be 'the biggest fight ever'

Tyson Fury will return to the ring next month

Former world champion Tyson Fury says he gets on quite well with Anthony Joshua and exchanges text messages with the current king of the heavyweight scene.

But Fury says that will not stop him from defeating Joshua in a potential blockbuster showdown, which would be one of the biggest fights in British boxing history.

The 29-year-old has not fought since upsetting Wladimir Klitschko back in November 2015 and Joshua has captured the IBF, WBA and WBO titles in the interim.

But Fury will return to action on June 9 and he told the Sunday Times that he wants to fight again in September and December - before a possible tilt at Joshua next year.

He said: "When Joshua fought Klitschko last year, I was in Spain and had it on live.

"When Klitschko knocked him down in the sixth round, I was pulling out my hair, thinking, 'Don't throw it away. Please get up, get up'.

"It might seem strange, but I was willing him to get up and win, because I know that me against him will be the biggest fight ever, the Achilles and Hector of today."

Fury added that he and Joshua discuss boxing via text messages.

"I give him advice about the sweet science," said Fury.

Anthony Joshua holds all but one of the major heavyweight belts (Deontay Wilder is the WBC champion)

"I believe that if you help others, good things come to you.

"AJ is an excellent athlete and he's very good at going forwards and backwards in straight lines.

"I tell him to be confident and to try different moves, not to just bulldoze forwards. He tried that in his last fight against Joseph Parker and he did well. It was a mature performance.

"But Parker showed the world how hard it will be for AJ, if he fights me. Parker adopted my slipping and sliding style, but he wasn't able to quite pull it off."