Charles Martin hopes to defend IBF title against Tyson Fury in future

Charles Martin is open to a future fight against Tyson Fury if he successfully defends his IBF heavyweight title against Anthony Joshua.

The American will put his newly claimed IBF belt on the line when he faces Joshua at the O2 Arena on April 9, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Fury briefly held the title following his points win over Wladimir Klitschko in November, but the IBF stripped away the belt after the new champion was unable to face their mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov next.

Martin instead battled Glazkov last month - taking the title after the Ukrainian pulled out in the third round with a serious knee injury - and shared a few words with Fury, who watched from ringside in New York.

"He just said: 'You did great man, good job', Martin told Sky Sports. "Real recognise real. He knows what I'm about, I know what he's about.

"There is a handful of great fighters in every era. We are that bunch. In order to be considered a great champion, you've got to have great opponents, so that's where they come into play."

Real recognise real. He knows what I'm about, I know what he's about.

And the unbeaten 29-year-old insists he wants to face all the division's top names, including world No 1 Fury, but firstly is focusing on Joshua.

Asked if he would face Fury, Martin said: "Sure, yes, yes. All the great fighters. That's what I want to do.

"I'm not here to win a world title and waste my time with defences that everybody knows I can beat - one-sided fights.

"I want a fight that if they say he's the best and I hear him name popping up everywhere, 'Anthony Joshua this, Anthony Joshua that', I want to fight him.

"I've got the belt, you know I've got something that will make them fight me."

Fury is still considering options for this year's rematch with Klitschko and Martin has backed him to produce a repeat win over the 39-year-old.

"No, I wasn't surprised [at the first win]," said Martin. "You can't dodge father time. Klitschko is a lot older now. He's still a good fighter, I'll always give him that.

"He was a great fighter in his era. When he was in his prime, he was awesome. But we're the young lions of the sport. You can't do it forever, so that's where Tyson Fury came into play and he handled his business.

"I take my hat off to that man for handling his business and he's going to do the same when they fight again, because like I said, you can't beat it."