Frank Warren, co-promoter for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, believes Anthony Joshua should avoid a direct rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Last month, Usyk outboxed Joshua over twelve rounds to capture the IBF, WBA, WBO, IBO heavyweight titles.

And last weekend in Las Vegas, Fury knocked Deontay Wilder in the eleventh round of their trilogy fight.

Joshua has exercised an immediate rematch clause, with the second bout targeted to take place in the first quarter of 2022.

Warren would rather see Joshua take an interim fight, which allows Fury and Usyk to collide in a full division unification, and then Joshua could face the winner for all the belts.

“He shouldn’t be going through with it. It’s his choice. If he knocks it on the head, it opens the door for us to do the unification [Fury vs Usyk]. He needs a winning mentality before he goes into [a rematch with Usyk]," Warren told Sky Sports.

"Maybe he fights the winner [of Fury vs Usyk] which is still a big fight. I think Usyk will beat him again. If there had been another 20 seconds, Usyk would have stopped AJ. He wobbled him early and nearly took him out. Next time around he will fancy knocking AJ over. The only way AJ can beat him is to do what Wilder did - to impose himself. I can't see AJ winning that rematch."

Joshua is very unlikely to step away from an direct rematch with Usyk.

In the aftermath of his most recent loss, Joshua vowed to come back stronger than ever.

"If you look at it from a negative point of view, you're never going to have that mindset that you can make a difference because you're down anyway. But if you look at it from a positive point of view, and realize, 'Yeah, I took a loss, but that's a lesson, that's a blessing. I can use it as fuel to get better. And use it as fuel to right my wrongs. You can only get better from there.' So I'm not gonna hold myself down from the mistake I made, I'm only gonna uplift myself and say, 'Actually, you know what? That was a tough fight. 'But from that fight, I'm gonna go away, get my notepad out and find ways to improve," Joshua said.