Povetkin Not Happy With His Fight, Return Likely on 12/18

By Ruslan Chikov

2004 Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Povetkin was not happy with his performance on Saturday in Russia. In what many expected to be an easy tune-up before a return in Germany on October 30, turned into a tough fight before Povetkin knocked out his foe, Teke Oruh of Nigeria, in the fifth round.

The performance caused Povetkin's team to rethink his course and postpone the planned return for October 30. Reports in Russia suggest that Povetkin will now return on December 18 in Germany. Povetkin and his trainer Teddy Atlas will need additional time to correct some of the problems that were present in the Oruh win.

"It was very important for me to take this kind of fight because it's been a long time that I haven't fought in a big arena. But as for the fight itself, I'm not very happy. There were a lot of mistakes made, which means there is a lot of work ahead," Povetkin said.