By Jim Dower: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin (19-0, 14 KO’s) will be returning to the ring this month against Nigerian Teke Oruth (14-2-1, 6 KO’s) on October 16th in a scheduled 10 round bout at the Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, in Chekhov, Russia.

Povetkin, 31, turned down a fight against IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko recently in order to get in some more fights and develop more before taking on such a tough challenge.

Ranked number #3 WBO, #6 WBA, #10 WBC, and #11 IBF, Povetkin plans on fighting a lot to develop more. He already has a fight planned out for later in the month on October 30th against a still to be determined opponent.

Oruth, 32, has lost his last two fights against Joey Abell and Manuel Quezada, However, he still hasn’t been knocked out as of yet, and hopefully Povetkin can get some rounds out of this fight. Povetkin needs to get in a lot more fights because he only fought twice in 2009, and so far once in 2010.

At 31, Povetkin is not getting any younger he needs to make up for all the lost time in his career. 19 fights isn’t very fights for someone his age. Povetkin defeated Javier Mora by a 5th round TKO in March. Before that, he stopped Leo Nolan by a 3rd round TKO in December 2009.

It’s been two years since Povetkin defeated a top level fighter when he beat Eddie Chambers by a 12 round decision in the IBF heavyweight eliminator tournament. In the tourney, Povetkin defeated Chris Byrd and Chambers, which has been the high point of Povetkin’s pro career thus far. Povetkin captured the heavyweight Gold Medal in the 2004 Olympics while fighting for Russia.