Povetkin Confused as To Why Whyte Branded Him as "Coward"

Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Povetkin is confused as to why Dillian Whyte branded him as a "coward" in a recent interview.

Povetkin is currently training for a planned return in the coming months.

There has been some discussions that he could see action as part of the undercard to Anthony Joshua's next defense of the WBA, IBO, WBO, IBF world titles. Joshua is slated to fight again on April 13th, at Wembley Stadium in London.

Povetkin saw action at Wembley back in September, when he suffered a knockout loss at the hands of Joshua in seven rounds. 

Back in April 2017, in the aftermath of Povetkin's crushing knockout of David Price, the Russian boxer expressed his interest in facing Whyte, who also called for the contest to happen.

Whyte is one of the frontrunners to face Joshua on the April date. If that direction is scrapped, then a Whyte vs. Povetkin contest could be possible.

The Brixton man accused Povetkin of avoiding a fight against him after he issued a verbal challenge following the 39-year-old's knockout win over David Price.

But Povetkin has questioned Whyte on social media and revealed he is already preparing to return to the ring following his defeat to Anthony Joshua at Wembley in September.

According to Whyte, the Russian boxer backed away from the potential scenario of facing each other.

"He's a good fighter, but also he's a coward as well, because he agreed to fight me at ringside after the David Price fight. Then he said no, I'm not going to fight, I will sit around and wait until I get the chance to fight Anthony Joshua," Whyte said to Sky Sports.

But Povetkin has no idea what Whyte is talking about.

"Why on earth would Whyte call me a coward? I personally can’t understand! - everything is going according to a plan, I’m not going to tie up with boxing - I’m getting ready for a fight and who will be my rival doesn’t matter to me," Povetkin stated on social media.