With the September 22 showdown between heavyweight boxers Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin fast approaching, you would be forgiven for thinking that all the talk leading up to the big fight would be back and forth between the two. 

It has become quite clear, however, that unified heavyweight world champion Joshua is already looking ahead to a possible meeting with Deontay Wilder, one that AJ believes would announce him as the best in the sport, should he go on to defeat the American. 

Speaking to journalists, AJ said rather bluntly: "Me and Wilder is the best fight in the division right now, not me and Povetkin."

The Englishman also announced that the potential meeting between the two has been some time in the making, with a decision still yet to be made and contracts still to be signed.

"The deal to fight Wilder is still on the table, if it was written off I'd be very annoyed.

"We were working on the fight before I beat Carlos Takam, then it was Joseph Parker and it still hasn't happened... and now it's Povetkin.

"But I want the big one, I am looking past Povetkin now. I want the big guns. I am going to walk through Povetkin and for Wilder the date and location is here.

"For the past seven months I have found out what he wants in a contract, what he doesn't want in a contract."

Frustrated Joshua made his feelings known during questions about the potential fight, asking: "Why would you not fight me if you believe you can beat me in this type of an event?"

Perhaps trying to bait Wilder into a decision, the heavyweight champ claimed that the American probably only has a couple of years left in him after a long career.

"He's had 40 training camps, and even if you knock each opponent in a round you have still gone through hundreds of rounds in your camps, miles and miles on the clock with all the running and with the body wear and tear -- he's been a professional since 2009.  

"That makes it a 10-year professional career, that is a long time, he's been hurt by a lot of fighters on the way, all the sparring.

"So what does that make? Two maybe three years left?"

Joshua clearly believes he is the best around right now, but knows that time is fleeting if he wants to prove it against the best of the rest.

He will surely crank it up a notch or two in the coming months if a date is not set soon.

Watch this space.