Wladimir Klitschko wants Anthony Joshua to become the world’s no 1 but admits he must face the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury winner to achieve that status.

Joshua is set to make the next defense of his WBA ‘super’, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles against Kubrat Pulev in June, while Wilder puts his WBC belt at stake in a rematch with Fury in Las Vegas this weekend.

Klitschko has been retired since 2017 after an epic Wembley defeat to Joshua and believes the fellow Olympic gold medallist has the necessary attributes to emerge as the division’s sole champion.

The Ukrainian’s lengthy reign as a unified titleholder was ended by a points loss to Fury in 2015 and Klitschko thinks the Brit must find a way to nullify Wilder’s power if he is to become a two-time world champion.