As well as earning a well-respected reputation in the ring, Tony Bellew can always be relied on to speak his mind outside of it too.

Bellew's honest and frank opinion - combined with his analytical insight - has made him one of the most popular pundits on Sky Sports in recent years, when he isn't the ring himself of course.

So it was only right he had his say on one of the hottest debates going on right now: Are Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder eventually going to reach an agreement to meet later this year?

It's the question everyone is asking but with these negotiations being kept very private and taking so long, some fans fear it might not actually happen.

It has been frustrating Bellew too, who revealed Wilder was prepared to travel to Russia to face Alexander Povetkin for a relatively small purse but seems to be increasingly reluctant to face Joshua in the UK for what would easily be the biggest payday of his career so far.

As Bellew explains, Wilder is willing to go to Russia for a $7.2 million purse - leaving him with roughly $5 million after the cut - yet, doesn’t want to come to the UK and fight Joshua for an alleged offer of between $12-13 million.

"What I can't get my head around and what frustrates me ever so slightly is why Wilder would rather go to Russia and face Alexander Povetkin," Bellew told iFL TV.

“Deontay Wilder is willing to go to Russia for a $7.2 million pay split. But yet, he’s not willing to come over here.

“He’s being offered double his highest ever payday. I find that hard it believe."

However, before critics starting jumping on Wilder's back, Bellew went on to make another very valid point. It is likely that the team working behind the scenes for the 'The Bronze Bomber' are actually the people making it so difficult.

“If you just said right now to Deontay Wilder: '$10 million to fight Anthony Joshua.' He would be on the first plane over. I have doubt about that whatsoever.

"But the men behind him are going: 'hang on a moment. We deserve more than that because you've got a belt and we all want paying."