Tyson Fury 'needs to redeem himself' by fighting me, says Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua says longtime rival Tyson Fury can "redeem himself from the circus" of his collapsed undisputed heavyweight title bout with Oleksandr Usyk by agreeing to meet him in the ring.

The much-anticipated heavyweight unification bout between WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO champion Usyk and WBC belt-holder Fury was scrapped last week after the Ukrainian's promoter blamed Fury's “unacceptable” demands.

Joshua said: "There's no better time to get Fury in the ring than now because he needs me to redeem himself from this circus, this letdown.

"He needs me so there's no better time than for him to call my name out and I'm someone that will take on any challenge."

Joshua, whose record stands at 24 wins, 22 knock-outs, and three losses, takes on Jermaine Franklin at London's O2 Arena on Saturday, his first ring appearance since losing his rematch to Usyk in Saudi Arabia last summer.

The Englishman, 34, has said he is targeting one "last run" at heavyweight gold and emulating the great Muhammad Ali as the division's only three-time champion.

Fury called off a proposed bout against Joshua last year, saying his rival had missed a deadline in which to agree terms for what would have been the biggest fight in British heavyweight history.

Fury, 34, then set his sights on facing unbeaten 36-year-old Usyk in what would have been the first undisputed heavyweight contest since 1999.

But after weeks of negotiations, both parties announced an agreement could not be reached due to a dispute over the terms of a potential rematch.

World Boxing Council chief Mauricio Sulaiman said it was "extremely disappointing" that negotiations between Fury and Usyk to unify the heavyweight titles had broke down. Unbeaten in all 33 bouts as a professional,