By Yuri Tarantin

It could very well be the hardest fight in the career of 36 year-old of Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Povetkin, who on the 21st of May in Moscow will challenge WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35KOs)

According to Russian cruiserweight fighter Murat Gassiev (22-0, 16KOs), who last week had several sparring sessions with Wilder, the American titleholder is very stronger fighter with a very big punch.

“We had good sparring sessions. Wilder is a very hard and strong fighter, - said Murat in an interview with BoxingScene.com/AllBoxing.ru.  "These sparring sessions are a great experience for me. He is a heavyweight world champion. Too work with such a fighter is extremely useful."

Regarding Wilder’s punching power, Murat said: “His punches are hard, sharp and dangerous. I had sparring sessions with many heavyweight fighters and I can say he has the hardest punch of them all."

Among the fighters on Gassiev's resume of sparring partners is former unified heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko, who handed Povetkin the only defeat of his career in 2013. In that contest, Povetkin was dropped several times.

While their power is similar, says Gassiev, he credits Wilder with having the bigger punch.

“I can’t say that there is a big difference, but I think that Wilder’s punches are harder," he said.

Murat also added that Wilder is fighting fit before the fight - “It seems to me that he is fully ready physically and psychologically. He's had a very serious training camp, a lot of sparring sessions, changing sparring opponents."

“I think Povetkin will have the toughest fight of his career. Wilder is a champion, he is coming to a foreign territory and he knows what to expect. He is in a very serious mood.”

 Gassiev, who is handled by Ural Boxing Promotion and Warriors Boxing Promotions, will have a fight in an IBF cruiserweight eliminator on the 17th of May in the United States. His opponent will be American contender Jordan Shimmel.

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru