Povetkin Taking Wilder Seriously, Ready To Go To America

By Vadim Pushkin

Olympic gold medal winner Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) is sitting back with very interested eyes, as on January 16th Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) will defend his WBC heavyweight title against Artur Szpilka at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Povetkin is the mandatory challenger to Wilder's title. The Russian fighter and his promoter Andrei Ryabinsky are planning to attend Wilder's next defense.

"He's a strong fighter, serious, with a good shot. You can say whatever you want, but you need to prepare and try as best as possible to carry out the fight. We'll go with Andrei Ryabinsky to his fight being held on January 16 and then the negotiations for the date of our fight," Povetkin told Championot. "He's a very serious fighter, otherwise he would not be a world champion. He is tall and a strong guy."

The big question for Wilder-Povetkin is the location - United States or Russia. Povetkin admits that it's harder, not easier, to fight on home soil. If needed, he is fully prepared to travel to the United States for the Wilder fight. 

"When I'm in Russia it's even harder to fight....you have the responsibility of media obligations. I do not know where he will fight, but I'm ready to go to America," Povetkin said.

Some see Szpilka as an easy test for Wilder, but Povetkin says there are no easy fights because a single punch can change everything in the heavyweight division.

"At this level, I don't think it's possible to have an easy fight. Each fighter can solve everything with a single punch. This is the heavyweight division. I do not think [Szpilka] is a weak fighter, and we'll see how the fight plays out," Povetkin said.