Joshua's 258 Management and promoter Matchroom Boxing said they had "accepted all terms presented to us by Fury's team" last Friday but agreed to halt all communication due to the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Fury's promoter Frank Warren replied to 258's message on Twitter: "Contract will be with you very soon."

Former world champion Joshua suffered a second straight loss to Ukraine's WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion Oleksandr Usyk (35) in a title rematch in Saudi Arabia last month.

Fury said last April he was retiring but the unbeaten heavyweight this month challenged Joshua directly to a 'Battle of Britain' title fight.

"Anthony Joshua, I know you've just lost a fight to Usyk and you're bout-less at the moment, and I'd like to give you an opportunity to fight me for the WBC heavyweight championship of the world and the lineal championship in the next few months," he said.

"You're coming off a 12-round fight, so you're match fit, you're ready. I'm giving you a few months' notice," added Fury.