Anthony Joshua will reportedly accept a multi-million pound payout to step aside to allow a showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

The plans for an all-British undisputed fight between AJ and Fury were scuppered when the former lost to Ukrainian Usyk in London last year.

Joshua may step aside to allow a showdown between Fury and Usyk

The Gypsy King held up his end of the bargain by beating Deontay Wilder in his trilogy fight to retain the WBC heavyweight title.

Joshua activated his rematch clause to face Usyk again in a bid to reclaim his belts, while Fury had Dillian Whyte as his mandatory challenger.

The idea had been mooted for some time that AJ could step aside, for a substantial payout, and then fight the winner.

The Telegraph report the 32-year-old is 'close to accepting' a £15million payout that would pave the way for a Fury vs Usyk showdown.

Usyk was the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO cruiserweight world champion, and now WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight king

The Middle East has been touted as a potential location for the fight.

One potential stumbling block could be the situation surrounding Whyte.

Whyte remains in a prolonged legal battle with the WBC over his mandatory title shot.

The sanctioning body ruled that the bout would have an 80/20 purse split in Fury's favour, if it goes to purse bids.

Whyte's team were campaigning for a split of 55/45, and intend to contest this ruling with a WBC appeal or arbitration hearing.

As a result, the purse bids have been delayed multiple times.

Fury is the WBC heavyweight champion having defended his title against Wilder

Fury's co-promoter Bob Arum told talkSPORT that the situation was far from ideal.

"It is total chaos," Arum told talkSPORT.com last week.

"What's happening is just promises coming out of the Middle East about doing a unified fight with Usyk and Fury, and is Dillian Whyte gonna step aside.

"And people that have absolutely no contractual ties – like Frank Warren's Queensberry and our Top Rank do – are getting involved.

"It's a typical terrible kind of situation, but hopefully it'll get sorted out."