Tyson Fury has got support from an unlikely source ahead of his rearranged undisputed fight against Oleksandr Usyk.
Eddie Hearn has not always seen eye-to-eye with the Gypsy King but the promoter is desperate for him to beat Usyk in May.
Fury and Usyk will put their belts and unbeaten professional records on the line in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 18.
The pair were set to enter the ring on February 17 but Fury sustained a cut above his eye in sparring last week and the fight was postponed.
Eddie Hearn wants Tyson Fury to beat Oleksandr Usyk in May
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Fury has received criticism since the incident, with some questioning the legitimacy of the cut.
The 35-year-old has also batted away any claims that he is set to retire from the sport anytime soon.
That will be music to the ears of Hearn, who is keen to see Fury battle it out with his fighter Anthony Joshua.
Hearn believes the all-British fight can be arranged if Fury beats Usyk and Joshua overcomes Francis Ngannou in March.
Hearn told PA: "I really want Fury to win his fight because if AJ can do a job on Ngannou, it just sets up the biggest fight in the history of the sport in my opinion."
Ngannou has only had one professional boxing match to date, where he lost to Fury in controversial fashion last October.
Many, including Hearn, felt Ngannou deserved the judges' decision after he floored Fury in the third round.
Hearn knows the danger Ngannou could cause Joshua on March 8 but is still backing the Brit to come out on top.
He added: "It’s definitely a fight with a lot of jeopardy. You really have to be on your guard for this fight, you’ve got to be razor-sharp.
"Francis has surprised everybody. He’s one stubborn competitor and it’s not going to be easy, you’ll have to knock him down and keep banging and banging and banging away.
"This isn’t going to be one hit on the chin, clearly he’s an immovable object with a fantastic chin and big, big, big power.
"You’ve got to be really smart in this fight – don’t get hit, break him down and hopefully he’ll go over like a big tower and we can just move on."
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Eddie Hearn is keen for Tyson Fury to fight Anthony Joshua after Oleksandr Usyk
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Hearn will have been alerted to Fury's Instagram page on Wednesday, where he confirmed he plans to fight Joshua at least once after his clash with Usyk.
Fury said: "I’m hearing talk of people saying that I should retire or I’m gonna retire soon, or whatever.
"I ain’t retiring anywhere. I’ve got two fights with Usyk, for the undisputed twice.
"Then I’m gonna fight AJ at least once. Maybe twice if there’s a rematch, if he wants one after the first battering I give him.
Eddie Hearn believes Anthony Joshua has a tough task against Francis Ngannou
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"And then I’m gonna fight Ngannou again. And that’s just to start. So there’s five little fights for you to whet your appetite with.
"I ain’t going nowhere. Nowhere. I’m 35 years old in the prime of my life."
