By Allen Fox: Teddy Atlas, the trainer for WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (23-0, 16 KO’s) recognizes that his fighter Povetkin isn’t ready quite yet to face either of the Klitschko brothers after Povetkin made his first title defense in beating 42-year-old Cedric Bowell last Saturday night by an 8th round knockout at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland.

After the fight Roach was approached by a reporter asking him about when Povetkin will be ready for the Klitschkos. Atlas wasn’t too pleased with the mention of the Klitschlos, saying “Give me a couple of more fights before you mention them again and then we’ll take them on and be a little more complete. And you never know, you might not need to talk about Klitschko no more.”

The match-making for Povetkin isn’t exactly up to Atlas, though, because he’s the trainer and not the manager. The decider of who Povetkin fights in the future will be up his promoters and it’s doubtful that they’ll want to put him in with Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. Povetkin will be defending his World Boxing Association title next against 38-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (50-7-2, 41 KO’s) in a winnable fight for Povetkin. It doesn’t look as if Povetkin’s management is going to want to get rid of the golden goose by putting him in with the Klitschkos and have Povetkin taken apart easily.

Povetkin didn’t look very good against Boswell. Povetkin no longer throws sustained combinations like he did earlier in his career when he was arguably at his best in 2007. He looks older, slower and more of a left hand only fighter. He did good work with his left hook, but Povetkin’s right hand lacked power. But the bad thing about Povetkin is he no longer is a high volume puncher like he once was. It’s unclear whether that’s due to Atlas or his increasing age. I don’t think he’s nearly as good as he was four years ago. But Povetkin should be more than good enough to beat Rahman, but that’s not saying much.

The truth of the matter is Povetkin will probably never be ready to face the Klitschkos and by wasting time all it is doing is making it easier for them to beat the smallish 6’2″ Povetkin. He doesn’t have size, so the more the he ages the slower he gets. His best chance was three to four years ago when Povetkin has more speed and had a great work rate. But now he’s just a small, slow fighter who doesn’t throw a lot of punches any longer. He would be an easy mark for either Klitschko.