WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) is very open to the idea of fighting two of his past opponents who fell out - Alexander Povetkin and Luis Ortiz.

Both Povetkin and Ortiz were scheduled to face Wilder - and both of the contests fell through due to failed drug tests.

Povetkin and Wilder were set to collide in May 2016 in Russia. Less than two weeks before the fight, it was revealed that Povetkin had tested positive for a small trace of meldonium - which only became illegal in January of the same year.

But now Povetkin is on the comeback trail after being cleared by all of the sanctioning bodies.

Next week he faces Christian Hammer in a WBO final eliminator - but the fight may also become a WBA final eliminator.

With respect to Ortiz, he was scheduled to fight Wilder last month at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

A few weeks before the fight it was revealed that Ortiz tested positive for diuretics chlorothaizide and hydrochlorothiazide, which are used to treat high blood pressure but also can be used as masking agents for performance-enhancing drug use.

Ortiz was pulled from the fight and replaced by Bermane Stiverne, who Wilder demolished in one round.

The WBC held an investigation and determined that Ortiz had indeed been taking prescribed medication for high blood pressure. Ortiz will return to the ring on Friday night in a stay busy fight in Miami, Florida.

Now that Povetkin and Ortiz are back in the WBC mix - Wilder is more than willing to face them.

"We have a lot of fighters. We have a lot of guys coming back. You got Luis Ortiz and Alexander Povetkin. I would love to get the opportunity back with some of them guys, the fights that people really want to see and due to their lack of responsibility, as far as being wise for the drugs they choose to put in their bodies that the fight didn't happen," Wilder told Cillian O Conchuir.

"Hey, they back, why not? I would love to get back in the ring and mix it up with those guys. I can't wait for 2018. The heavyweight division is too exciting. We want go get in the ring and prove ourselves, as men, as warriors, as the best and I am one of the ones saying I am the best and I can't wait to prove to the world I am who I say I am."