(Photo credit: KMG) By Allan Fox: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (60-3, 51 KO’s) doesn’t want to let WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (26-0, 18 KO’s) hang around too long next month in their fight on October 5th at the Olimpiyskiy, in Moscow, Russia. Wladimir has a history of chin problems when facing an opponent with good power and an ability to apply a lot of pressure on him. Povetkin has good power and he’s very good at pressuring his opponents.

Wladimir said “He [Povetkin] is the best opponent I’ve ever had. My goal is to win the fight by KO.”

It’s tough to make an argument that Povetkin is better than past Wladimir opponents like Corrie Sanders, David Haye or Tony Thompson. All three of those guys would have been favored against Povetkin had they fought him. Even some of Wladimir’s past opponents like Samuel Peter, Ross Puritty, and Lamon Brewster would have been very tough outs for Povetkin.

That’s not to say that Povetkin wouldn’t beat them, but those would have been very tough fights for Povetkin if he fought those guys at the same time that Wladimir did. Povetkin is probably closer to being the 6th or 7th best heavyweight that Wladimir has fought during his career, but it’s not surprising that Wladimir is busy trying to build Povetkin up as a fighter because it can only help make their fight next month a bigger affair.

Povetkin hasn’t had a tough fight since his narrow win over Marco Huck last year in February. That was a real close call for Povetkin, as the cruiserweight Huck proved to be the better puncher. Povetkin is really more of a cruiserweight himself, so it’s not surprising that he struggled to beat Huck because both guys are around the same size.

Wladimir, 6’6″, will have a big size and reach advantage over the 6’2″ Povetkin and you can expect him to use his size to his advantage to control the action from the outside. When Povetkin does come into range to try and land you can bet that Wladimir will tie him up to prevent him from throwing his combinations.