LAS VEGAS – With his sights set on the winner, Joe Joyce was looking forward to watching Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury fight to become boxing’s first fully unified heavyweight champion of the four-belt era.

Now that the teams for Fury and Usyk have stopped negotiating, Joyce hopes he gets his shot at Fury’s WBC championship next. If London’s Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) can get past huge Chinese contender Zhang Zhilei (24-1-1, 19 KOs) on April 15 at Copper Box Arena in London, the 37-year-old Joyce would welcome a summer showdown with Fury at Wembley Stadium in London.

“I’m hoping for that fight,” Joyce told BoxingScene.com. “Me and Tyson Fury would be a great British summer fight. That’s why I’m fighting a southpaw now, because I’m getting prepared for one of these title fights, Usyk or Tyson Fury. I’m ready. With Fury, it’s a massive fight. Everyone wants to see it. It’s a great fight in the making.”

The 6-foot-6, 270-pound Joyce is listed by Caesars Sportsbook as a 9-1 favorite versus Zhilei, but Zhilei gave Filip Hrgovic the toughest fight of the Croatian contender’s career seven months ago.

The 39-year-old Zhilei, a 2008 Olympic silver medalist, dropped Hrgovic (15-0, 12 KOs) in the first round of their August 20 bout on the Usyk-Anthony Joshua undercard at Jeddah Superdome in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hrgovic recovered and edged Zhang on all three scorecards in their 12-round IBF elimination match (115-112, 115-112 and 114-113).

“It’s a very tricky fight, but no risk, no reward,” Joyce said of facing Zhilei. “I’m at the top of the sport right now and, you know, all I need is to cement that title. I think a victory with Zhilei is just progressing my journey further.”

Joyce holds the WBO interim heavyweight title and is its mandatory challenger for one of Usyk’s crowns. Fighting Fury would afford Joyce a bigger platform and more money, of course, because Fury-Joyce would be a lucrative event in England.

Whereas Usyk doesn’t mention him much, Joyce appreciates that Fury repeatedly has praised the 2016 Olympic silver medalist as an elite-level heavyweight.

“It’s really good, man,” Joyce said, “because I don’t get that recognition from a lot of people and Fury, like, he gives me that. So, yeah, respect. And, you know, I’ve shared some good rounds with him [in sparring] … But yeah, that’s actually the fight I want. I’m gonna have to get past Zhieli Zhang first and, you know, hopefully we can make that fight. I’ve got a lot of respect for the Fury family, but that’s the fight I want.”

Frank Warren’s company co-promotes Fury and promotes Joyce, which should enable them to come to an agreement easier than Fury and Usyk. If England’s Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) and Ukraine’s Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) do decide to box before Joyce gets his shot at either champion, Joyce would slightly favor Fury.

“I think it’s a close fight, but I think Fury [would win], being the bigger man,” Joyce said. “But you never know, man, because like Usyk’s punch output and, you know, the durability he showed against Joshua was great. And, you know, I really wanna see that fight. Well, I wanted to see that fight. Maybe it’ll still happen, but if not, there’s a better fight there with me.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.