Povetkin Has No Worries After Watching Deontay Wilder's Win

By Vadim Pushkin

Mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22KOs) is not worried about sitting ringside to watch WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35KOs) retain his belt this past weekend.

Povetkin and his promoter traveled to the United States last week to sit ringside Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where they watched Wilder retain his title with a ninth round knockout of Artur Szpilka.

As BoxingScene.com first reported, World Boxing Council President Mauricio Sulaiman believes the fight will take place in either May or June.

Povetkin became a mandatory challenger last year after knocking out Mike Perez in a single round. He then came back in November to stop Polish giant Mariusz Wach in the twelfth round.

Sulaiman says the two sides are now in the 30 day negotiations period. If they are unable to reach a deal in 30 days, the WBC will ordered a purse bid.

Povetkin saw what he needed to see from Wilder. There is a theory that Povetkin struggles against much taller fighters. He was dominated and dropped several times in his only career defeat to Wladimir Klitschko in 2013 and he wasn't as impressive against Wach.

He says Wilder and Klitschko are completely different fighters and there is no comparison between them, other than size.

"[The win by Wilder] does not surprise me. What is there to be surprised about? He's a strong and healthy guy. He's never showed that he's been a tactician. He's just physically strong and has a good punch. The only similarities that he has to [Wladimir] Klitschko is his size. Their boxing abilities are completely different. For me it is necessary to create a proper strategy, learn it and apply it correctly....everything depends on me," said Povetkin.

Both sides admit the biggest hurdle to overcome is not the money, but the location of the contest. Wilder and his team want the fight in the United States. Povetkin and his promoter want the contest in Russia. The challenger is open to the idea of fighting in the United States - under the right circumstances.