Alexander Povetkin has stated he wants to fight Anthony Joshua next, leaving Deontay Wilder’s chances of sealing an undisputed unification in doubt.
As WBN mentioned on Wednesday, Povetkin being left out of the thinking for Joshua’s next bout could have repercussions with the WBO and WBA.
Povetkin is the mandatory challenger with both organisations, which means promoter Andriy Ryabinskiy is in a strong position in the bargaining stakes.
Should Ryabinskiy and Povetkin lobby for their opportunity and push the WBO and WBA to make a decision, Joshua may be left with no choice.
“I’m the mandatory challenger for Joshua. I look forward to the moment when I can compete against the best in the world,” said Povetkin.
“Anthony has four belts. I want this fight and I don’t even think about fighting someone else,” he added.
The WBC and IBF have a policy which sees a unification override any mandatory challenger, something Wilder will have to hope can also be the case with the WBO and WBA this time around.