The talk of the boxing world in the last few months have been the protracted negotiations between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder to unify the heavyweight division.

It has been on as many times as it has been off, but a breakthrough was finally made earlier this week when it was revealed by Wilder's co-manager Shelley Finkel that the 'Bronze Bomber' had agreed to face AJ in England.

No contract has been signed yet, but Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed Finkel's comments to iFL TV, saying; "On Monday they emailed us saying they accept the terms, now we want to see a contract."

Needless to say though, Hearn has stated the fight is '100 percent happening', so any hiccups or pull-outs going forward would be bitterly disappointing for the boxing fans around the globe who have been clamouring for this fight.

Joshua's last bout was a points victory over New Zealander Joseph Parker - who will fight another Brit in the form of Dillian Whyte next - in Cardiff nearly three months ago, whilst Wilder's most recent showing was a 10th round knockout of the Cuban 'King Kong' Luis Ortiz four weeks before Joshua's win.

But there is a big reason as to why the super-fight could happen as late as February 2019, instead of the original September date that has been mooted - and it doesn't relate to the mandatory to AJ's IBF belt Alexander Povetkin.

It was revealed by Golden Boy promoter and former world-class fighter Oscar De La Hoya that Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez would face Gennady Golovkin once again on September 15, 2018 in a rematch of their 2017 draw.

That bout was supposed to take place on May 5 in Las Vegas, but Mexican powerhouse Canelo tested positive for clenbuterol, which Alvarez put down to eating contaminated meat in his home country.

A six-month suspension was handed down, back-dated from February, which means his ban ends in August, paving the way for a showdown with 'Triple G' a month later.

And with this being officially agreed, it has put an official delay on the Wilder/Joshua clash because of promotional issues.

"We wanted to do the event in September. Our original offer was based on a September fight," said Hearn.

"Obviously Canelo-Golovkin was announced and it's only 10 or 11 weeks to September 15.

"Because of how long they've [Wilder's team] taken to come back, September's out. It doesn't work for US TV. It doesn't work in a build-up sense either."

No September fight means no huge Wembley clash for the pair, with that month being the only time of the calendar that Hearn could negotiate using the 90,000 stadium.

Cardiff's Principality Stadium seems more likely instead, it's hosted Joshua's last two fights against Parker and Carlos Takam.

The Matchroom Boxing mogul ideally would like to fight in October, but has admitted that February 2019 could also be a realistic time-frame, and if that is the case, a match-up with Russian contender Povetkin could still happen in three months time.

"The max you're going to have to wait is seven or eight months," Hearn stated. "But hopefully you might have to wait three or four months. I'm almost certain this gets signed.

"We are under pressure time wise so I'm hoping they come back in good time on the contract because if they are going to mess around, and it's not going to get done, we'll jump in and fight Povetkin in September."