Anthony Joshua has 24 hours to save his WBA title after he is ordered to fight Russian

Anthony Joshua has been given a 24-hour deadline to sign a deal to fight Russian Alexander Povetkin or face being stripped of a portion of his world heavyweight titles.

Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has been negotiating for a unification bout with Deontay Wilder but the World Boxing Association has lost patience and want him to fight its own mandatory challenger.

WBA president Gilberto Mendoza said in a statement: “Today the WBA requested an answer from Anthony Joshua’s team regarding his fight with the mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin.

READ MORE: Wilder ready to sign contract to fight Joshua

“The WBA have allowed over a month extension to negotiations with Povetkin and also ongoing discussions with Deontay Wilder.

“It appears the Wilder team have not returned the contract for the fight and therefore we are requesting a date for the Joshua versus Povetkin fight with immediate effect.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn has maintained he is negotiating a deal with Wilder’s camp but the mandatory challenge from Povetkin has been the Plan B all along.

World heavyweight champion Joshua, 28, holds the WBO, IBF and WBA Super titles and was hoping to become the undisputed champion against WBC champion Wilder later this year.