by David P. Greisman

Heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder and his mandatory challenger, Alexander Povetkin, aren’t yet scheduled to fight. But if and when they do, the true heavyweight champion of the world says he’ll have a hard time picking the winner.

Wladimir Klitschko is familiar with both, after all. He fought Povetkin in late 2013, winning a one-sided unanimous decision. And he’s hosted Wilder in training camp, working with the young, tall and powerful American fighter.

“That is going to be an extremely entertaining fight. I definitely think Povetkin has ability to win this fight, but also Deontay can do it,” Klitschko said on a Sept. 15 media conference call in advance of his upcoming fight with Tyson Fury.

“Povetkin, in some of the fights he didn’t really look impressive, but he has an amazing background experience as an amateur boxer,” Klitschko said. “And he definitely has improved in the years since he lost against me. He definitely got better. I even think that my fight with Povetkin these days probably would’ve looked a bit different.”

In the nearly two years since Povetkin lost to Klitschko, he’s scored three straight knockouts, taking out Manuel Charr in seven rounds, Carlos Takam in 10 and Mike Perez in the opening half of the opening round. That’s moved the 36-year-old, who captured gold at super heavyweight in the 2004 Olympics, to a pro record of 29-1 with 21 KOs.

Wilder, a 29-year-old who won bronze in the 2008 Olympics, picked up the World Boxing Council’s heavyweight title (the only major belt not held by Klitschko) earlier this year with a decision over Bermane Stiverne. He defended it with a ninth-round knockout of Eric Molina in June and will face a second lower-tier opponent on Sept. 26 when he faces Johann Duhaupas.

Klitschko has spoken very respectfully of Wilder, praising his talent. That respect plays into consideration in his breakdown of a Wilder-Povetkin bout.

“I definitely think it’s something that’s exciting because you don’t have a favorite in this fight,” he said. “I would say 50-50, it can go either way.”

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com