It's not exactly a secret that Anthony Joshua hopes to fight Deontay Wilder for the undisputed heavyweight championship as soon as possible.

Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn have openly courted the fight for months now, trickling out little bits of information when it suits them but never seeming to have made much progress.

The location of the fight seems to hold things up as much as anything; Wilder wants to fight state-side whereas Joshua is adamant that this should be in the UK and it looks like it'll be down to who blinks at the extra cash first to find the right compromise.

Hearn has already claimed that his client will take less of a cut to secure the UK fight, while Wilder's team offered $50m to Joshua in order to get what they want - although, allegedly nothing else, forcing a quick rejection due to a lack of any specifics.

And so things have taken a long time - far too long, in fact, and now Joshua has other challengers asking when their turn is.

One of those is Alexander Povetkin, the mandatory challenger for Joshua's WBA title.

Povetkin knocked out David Price in Cardiff on the night Joshua defeated Joseph Parker for the WBO title and is now in a position to face the champ when the time is right.

And the Russian believes he knows when that will be.

"I am now the mandatory challenger for the WBA world champion’s belt, which currently belongs to Joshua," Povetkin told Russian News Agency TASS.

"It is still unclear when and where this fight will happen as everything depends on our promoters.

"However, I believe the fight is more likely to be held in Great Britain this autumn."

That would suggest Povetkin sees himself as Joshua's next challenge - something surely brought about by the slow-moving talks with Wilder.

"I will begin with my training sessions when the exact date of the bout is announced," said the 38-year-old.

Povetkin has a strong position here. The Russian is definitely getting a shot at the WBA belt and the only way he doesn't get it next is if a 'super-fight' is agreed that suits the organisation.

Joshua v Wilder would be that fight but it really doesn't seem any closer than it did back in March. If Joshua wants to guarantee himself a shot at the undisputed title, he better get a move on.