Leigh Wood and promoter Eddie Hearn said their primary concern was the health of defeated fighter Michael Conlan after a brutal 12th-round knockout sent him tumbling out of the ring through the ropes.

It capped off an unbelievable fight, where Wood was dropped in the first round before mounting an incredible comeback in the 11th and 12th rounds when clearly behind on the scorecards.

Speaking with DAZN Boxing after stepping out of the ring, defending-champion Wood made it clear that while the victory was sweet, his thoughts were with the man he shared a ring with for more than half an hour.

"I hope Michael's alright," he said.

"I can't really celebrate yet until I know he's alright – my thoughts are with him at the minute."

Promoter Eddie Hearn, while also sympathetic to Conlan's situation, was also willing to discuss what this win could mean for Wood going forward.

Eddie Hearn says "caged lion" Anthony Joshua wants to fight the likes of Deontay Wilder, Luis Ortiz or Joe Joyce before a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk.

Usyk outclassed Joshua last September to win the WBA, IBF, WBO, and IBO world heavyweight titles.

With Usyk in Ukraine to defend his country following the Russian invasion, Joshua must wait for a second fight with the 35-year-old.

Hearn, Joshua's promoter, says Joshua is eager for a big challenge before doing battle with Usyk again.

"If we can't fight him in May or early June, we would like an interim fight before we go into the Usyk fight," he told the 5 Live Boxing podcast.

"AJ's idea of an interim bout is very different to mine. An interim bout while you're waiting should be a nice little stroll in the park.

"He's messaging me saying: 'What about Wilder? What about Otto Wallin? What about Luis Ortiz? What about Joe Joyce?'

"But this is AJ all over. He's like a caged lion."

Hearn added: "The most important thing is he rematches Oleksandr Usyk. He's turned down a lot of money not to and he's not about to let that opportunity go.

"I think now's the time to have an easy touch. He doesn't. He wants to prepare. Maybe Ortiz, maybe Wilder in that southpaw gearing him up for Usyk.

"I expect if he does have an interim, knowing Anthony Joshua, it'll be a real fight."

Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte's heavyweight title fight will take place at Wembley Stadium on April 23.

WBC champion Fury was ordered to defend his belt against mandatory challenger Whyte, with the latter signing the contract on the brink of the deadline as he pushed for a higher share of the purse.

Frank Warren's Queensbury Promotions won the bid to stage the fight, which must take place by April 24, with Fury expected to pocket £24million to Whyte's £6m.

It will be Fury's first fight in the United Kingdom since 2018, with his previous five bouts taking place in the United States - three of those coming against Deontay Wilder who he displaced as WBC champion.

Whyte has long since been the WBC's top-ranked contender but has had to remain patient for his first crack at a world title, which he will now get in the all-British showdown.

Fury’s promoter Warren said upon confirmation: "Tyson Fury coming home to fight under the arch at Wembley Stadium is a fitting reward for the No.1 heavyweight in the world following his exploits across the Atlantic in his epic trilogy against Deontay Wilder.

"The fact that this mandatory defence of his WBC title comes against another Brit only adds to the occasion.

"They are two of the biggest characters in British sport and both normally have plenty to say for themselves.

"It is going to be an incredible night and a huge occasion for sport in this country that will capture the imagination of fans right across the world."

Meanwhile, Fury's US promoter Bob Arum believes Whyte has little chance of overcoming Fury.

"Tyson Fury conquered America, and it is only fitting that he defends the heavyweight championship in a packed Wembley Stadium," Arum said.

"Dillian Whyte has called for this fight for years, and while he is a deserving challenger, no heavyweight can match 'The Gypsy King.'"

Tyson Fury's WBC heavyweight title defence against Dillian Whyte will finally take place after Frank Warren's Queensbury Promotions won the purse bid to stage the fight.

Warren's record bid of £31million gazumped the £24m being offered by Whyte's Matchroom promoters, giving Fury's team control of the all-British showdown in a fight that must take place by April 24.

Fury will now pocket £24m to Whyte's £6m, though the latter may earn a larger share should his appeal to the WBC for a larger proportion be successful.

A tweet from WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman read: "This is the coin flipped to determine the opening of the bids $32,222,222 by @MatchroomBoxing $41,025,000 by Queensberry Promotions. This is the biggest purse bid in the history of boxing. Congratulations #FuryWhyte @WBCBoxing Heavyweight championship @Tyson_Fury @DillianWhyte."

Warren added via a statement: "Queensberry and Top Rank are delighted that WBC and lineal world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will defend his titles against Dillian Whyte following today's purse bids.

"A venue and date for the fight will be announced in due course."

Whyte has long since been the WBC's top-ranked contender but has had to remain patient for his first crack at a world title.

Fury's camp had been negotiating with Anthony Joshua to take a step-aside payment for his planned rematch with unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk in order to fight the Ukrainian in an undisputed heavyweight championship fight.

However, those talks broke down this week meaning Fury will instead focus on mandatory challenger Whyte, while Joshua is now expected to get his shot at winning back the WBA Super, IBF and WBO straps from Usyk. 

Each of Fury's past five fights have taken place in the United States, with three of those coming against Deontay Wilder who he displaced as WBC champion.

Cardiff's Principality Stadium and the Manchester Arena are among the venues tipped to host the fight, with Fury writing on Twitter: "BIG GK IS COMING HOME! UK BABY!"

Tyson Fury has seemingly confirmed Dillian Whyte will be his next opponent after Eddie Hearn claimed the WBC heavyweight champion does not want to face Oleksandr Usyk.

Whyte is the mandatory challenger for Fury's world title, but the WBC this week granted a 48-hour extension for the two parties to negotiate a deal for a fight.

Purse bids for that all-British bout are now set to go in on Friday.

It was reported by The Telegraph that Anthony Joshua was prepared to step aside from a rematch with Usyk in order for Fury to do battle with the WBA (Super), IBF and WBO champion in a unification fight.

Joshua, who was dethroned by the Ukrainian last September, dismissed those claims and Fury appeared to clear up all the uncertainty on Thursday.

The 33-year-old tweeted: "Who else can't wait for the fight. The best of Britain."

Fury had earlier mocked Joshua and his promoter Hearn for supposedly rejecting a huge offer to step aside from a rematch with Usyk.

"Had to do this video. Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua have to be the worst damn businessmen in history! Today they lost $90m, goddamn sons of b****es, crazy!" he posted on social media.

Yet Hearn, also Whyte's promoter, says Fury is not prepared to fight Usyk next.

"There are four people in this mix – Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk, Dillian Whyte, Anthony Joshua – and everybody has to be on board with the same proposal," Hearn told BBC 5 Live.

"Ultimately it's Tyson Fury who doesn't want to fight Oleksandr Usyk next in an undisputed fight, he wants to have an interim fight in March. There's no conversation to be had.

"As we stand here right now, Dillian Whyte against Tyson Fury will go to purse bids tomorrow [Friday] in Mexico City."

Hearn, however, knows nothing is set in stone.

"They're never over, up until those envelopes are open," he added.

"But there's no real negotiations for Fury against Whyte outside of purse bids. It would take Tyson Fury probably to say, 'Yeah, okay, look, maybe I'll fight Usyk', but you never know what he's going to do.

"Right now this morning he wants to fight Dillian Whyte. He hasn't really mentioned that before but right now that's what we're doing. We'll be ready to bid tomorrow."

Anthony Joshua has "a number of proposals" to consider amid reports he could step aside from a rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in order for Tyson Fury to fight the Ukrainian.

Usyk outclassed Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September to claim his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles.

The Brit activated a clause to step into the ring with Usyk for a second time, but The Daily Telegraph revealed he could step aside for a fee of £15million to pave the way for his compatriot Fury to do battle with the 35-year-old in a unification bout in the Middle East.

Eddie Hearn, Joshua's promoter, revealed the 2012 Olympic champion has several options to mull over.

"I'm meeting with AJ and 258 management [on Tuesday] to go through plans for his next fight." he told Sky Sports.

"We have a number of proposals and options to discuss. The goal remains the same of course - to re-capture the world heavyweight crown."

Fury has not agreed a mandatory defence of his WBC strap with Dillian Whyte.

Usyk's promoter, Alexander Krassyuk, says it is up in the air over which Englishman will be his fighter's next opponent.

"We are in talks regarding the Fury fight since November," Krassyuk told Sky Sports.

"And though AJ gave his consent [reportedly] we still have not reached the final point in negotiations. And unless we get it - AJ rematch remains the basic option for us."

Eddie Hearn expects Anthony Joshua to announce who his new trainer will be either at the end of this month or early in February.

Joshua decided to shake things up after losing his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles to Oleksandr Usyk at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last September.

Eddy Reynoso, Virgil Hunter and Anthony Wilson are among the trainers Joshua could recruit, while Floyd Mayweather has been giving the Briton advice ahead of an eagerly anticipated rematch with Usyk that has not yet been confirmed.

Hearn, Joshua's promoter, told iFL TV: "I think AJ will make an announcement when camp starts, which I guess will be end of January, early February.

"He's worked hard to get it right. A lot of people have said, 'do you think it's risky to bring in a new trainer?'

"I flip that and say, 'do you think it's risky to not be comfortable with your set-up or your surroundings?'"

Hearn says having a new face in Joshua's corner will not mean there is no role to play for his long-time trainer Robert McCracken.

"He'll always be involved in some way," Hearn said of McCracken.

"He's more than just a trainer to Anthony Joshua... he's a mentor, an advisor.

"Those two will always talk – in what capacity, I don't know. I'll leave that to AJ to announce. But there will certainly be additions to the training team."

Joshua was outclassed by Usyk, suffering the second defeat of his professional career after he was also surprisingly dethroned by Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019.

Eddie Hearn is preparing to push on with finding an alternative opponent for Anthony Joshua if Tyson Fury's team are unable to "get their act together" by the end of the week.

Heavyweight rivals Joshua and Fury had appeared set for a huge showdown in Saudi Arabia on August 14, only for an arbitration ruling involving Deontay Wilder to potentially scupper that plan.

While Joshua holds the IBF, WBA and WBO belts, Fury claimed the WBC title from the previously unbeaten Wilder in their February 2020 rematch following a draw in their initial bout.

On Monday, a judge in the United States ruled that the dethroned champion had the right to face the Briton for a third time before September 15, casting huge doubt over the unification clash scheduled for a month earlier.

With the possibility of Fury no longer being available, Hearn is ready to look elsewhere for his fighter. Oleksandr Usyk – the mandatory challenger for Joshua's WBO strap – is a possibility, though the promoter plans to make sure he has more than one option on the table.

"I've been focused on plan A. The only fight we had in mind was Tyson Fury," Hearn said in an in-depth interview aired on the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel on Tuesday.

"We hope that fight can still take place on August 14, but the game changed last night. We have to have a plan B in place – and possibly a plan C as well.

"We have a couple of different options. Of course, the one that springs to mind is the WBO mandatory of Oleksandr Usyk. They have been quite patient and, really, we're in a situation now where if team Fury don't get their act together by the end of this week, we will have no option but to look for an alternative fight.

"AJ wants to fight this summer, Oleksandr Usyk is the mandatory and we have two or three other options as well."

Hearn revealed how fellow promoter Bob Arum, who is part of Fury's team, had been "very bullish" over the hearing not being a potential roadblock in the way of the lucrative summer fight with Joshua.

"I think he was in complete and utter shock – and I don't think I've ever really heard him speechless," Hearn said of his conversation with Arum.

"He's been very bullish throughout this whole process that – and I know it's their business and we don't know too much about the contracts or the case – this wouldn't be a problem, this wouldn't stand in the way of an Anthony Joshua-Tyson Fury fight.

"That's quite frustrating. We've been working tirelessly to get this over the line. He was almost shell-shocked, I think. Once he'd calmed down and done what he had to do, I think the move was then to speak to the other side and see if there's a resolution.

"We can't be involved in that, we can't control that process, but as far as I understand it, Tyson Fury wants to fight Anthony Joshua and we had the deal to do so on August 14 in Saudi Arabia. I spoke to our partners in Saudi Arabia and they were not best pleased either.

"I think the conversations are ongoing, but from our point of view we have to get our own side in order and make our plans. Hopefully, they can resolve the issue and we can move forward with the August 14 fight. It's over to them."

Asked if he still remained hopeful over that August bout going ahead, Hearn replied: "I hope it does, because we've grafted away for four or five months to make this happen, and we've got a fantastic deal in place for a legacy fight for a huge amount of money.

"I hope, hope [it goes ahead], but hopeful? I don't know. Everything we were told from the get-go was that this arbitration issue wouldn't be a problem. It obviously is a problem now and we have to think on our feet, act accordingly.

"We still hope that the fight can go ahead, but that's completely out of our hands.

"We know what we want to do: we want to win the undisputed world championship and fight Tyson Fury. But, really, if his hands are tied, we have to look elsewhere."

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have signed a two-fight deal to face each other for the undisputed heavyweight championship, promoter Eddie Hearn has announced.

British rivals Joshua and Fury have been in negotiations for several months to agree showdowns for the four major belts in boxing's glamour division.

Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) holds the WBA, WBO and IBF belts, having successfully defended his title with a ninth-round stoppage of Kubrat Pulev at Wembley Arena in December.

Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs) sensationally dethroned Deontay Wilder to claim the WBC crown in February last year but has not boxed since.

A date and venue for the initial encounter are yet to be confirmed, although Hearn – who promotes Joshua under his Matchroom Sport banner – told ESPN on Monday that both parties put pen to paper over the weekend.

"We'd like to get a site deal confirmed in the next month," Hearn said.

"The hard part is always getting everybody to put pen to paper. But this was a major effort from all parties to get this over the line.

"You had rival promoters, rival networks and rival fighters."

The hurdles to overcome in getting to this point were not inconsiderable, with Fury working under a co-promotional deal with Frank Warren and Bob Arum's Top Rank, both of whom have rival broadcasting agreements to Hearn's contracts with Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN globally.

Fury's most recent bouts have been aired by BT Sport in his homeland and via ESPN in the United States.

The expectation of ongoing coronavirus restrictions makes the prospect of at least the first fight taking place on British soil feel far-fetched, with a return of heavyweight title boxing to the Middle East – where Joshua avenged his only career defeat against Andy Ruiz Jr with a December 2019 points win in Saudi Arabia – appearing most likely.

"I actually feel we've done the hard part," Hearn said. "Speaking for myself, Anthony and his team at 258 management, I know how hard we've worked hard these last couple of months and I just feel that this fight is so big it's not a difficult sell.

"We've already had approaches from eight or nine sites. The offers have come from multiple countries in the Middle East, from Asia, eastern Europe and America.

"This is the biggest fight in boxing and one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It will be a major, major win for a country that wants to showcase itself."

Some typically idiosyncratic interviews from Fury over recent days, where he stated he had no interest in boxing in the UK again, while claiming to have stopped training in favour of "concentrating on getting me 10 pints of Stella", appeared to cast some doubt upon the Joshua fights getting over the line – especially considering the 32-year-old's previously well-documented struggles with alcohol and depression.

"You never really know with Tyson," Hearn said. "It could be mind games. He could be having a bad day. He could be a little p***** off. Or he could be having a joke.

"One of the fascinations about this fight will be the build-up because they're two totally different characters, two totally different personalities. The mind games will be on another level for this fight. Tyson is very good at that.

"Anthony is excited by that. He's so pumped, so focused, he hasn't stopped training since the Pulev fight. He's like a caged lion. The build-up is going to be epic."