By Eric Thomas: 2004 Olympic heavyweight Gold Medalist Alexander Povetkin (19-0, 14 KO’s) plans on fighting on October 20th against an opponent still to be determined at the Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Povetkin, 31, opted to not face IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko next, despite Povetkin being the IBF mandatory challenger for the 34-year-old Klitschko. Povetkin’s trainer Teddy Atlas felt that Povetkin wasn’t ready for the fight at this time.

By choosing not to face Klitschko, Povetkin missed out on a huge $3 million dollar payday for the fight and was dropped from the top 15 by the sanctioning bodies. Who knows how long it will take for Povetkin to work his way into another title shot, and even if and when he does, the chances are slim that he’ll do any better than he would now against the huge Klitschko brothers.

The main problem for Povetkin is his lack of size. At only 6’2″, Povetkin doesn’t appear to have enough size to compete against a fighter like the 6’6″ Wladimir Klitschko. Nothing will change in a year or two, even if Povetkin trains hard and looks better. It’s hard to imagine Povetkin being a better fighter in a year or two compared to what he is now, because he’ll be older and likely a little slower.

Povetkin would be better off trying to work his way into a title shot against WBA heavyweight champion David Haye as fast as possible before Haye gets knocked out by somebody. Povetkin would have a decent chance of knocking Haye out, if he could force a fight with him. It’s doubtful that Haye would volunteer to fight a guy like Povetkin, because he’s probably far too dangerous for Haye at this point. But Povetkin can work his way into a title shot if he moves quickly. If Povetkin could knock off somebody like Tomasz Adamek, who he could probably beat, that would put Povetkin in a good position for a fight against Haye. He wouldn’t even have to fight one of the Klitschko brothers. Haye is the target, because he doesn’t have the size of the Klitschkos and he looks vulnerable at heavyweight.