By Luke Furman

Former champion Alexander Povetkin of Russia is expecting to return to action on a date n April in the UK or in the United States.

“I don’t know yet who the next fight will be with, but it should be in April. Most likely, either in England or in the United States. My managers are discussing the details, and I'm waiting for them to tell me the exact details,” said the 39-year-old athlete to reporters.

“It’s hard to say who my my next opponent will be, when going by the ratings,” he added, when the possibilities for his future opponent.

Povetkin also discussed the current level of his physical condition. “I recently had an operation on my elbow, nothing that will bother me and I'm already fine. I will work hard and try to win [my next fight],” noted Povetkin.

In September, the Russian boxer lost to Briton Anthony Joshua by technical knockout in the seventh round and was unable to win the Olympian's four world titles under the Internation Boxing Organization (IBO),  World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Organization (WBO) and International Heavyweight Boxing Championship.

One possible rival for Povetkin is British challenger Dillian Whyte, who expressed heavy interest in facing Povetkin on April 20th in London.

The Russian veteran is the Olympic champion of the 2004 games and the former "regular" world champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA). He still holds an impressive career record of 34 wins (24 by KO) and two losses.

Povetkin's other career defeat came at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko, by way of a twelve round unanimous decision, in 2013.

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org