By Andrey Bazdrev

Most of the boxing fans seemed completely overwhelmed by a Klitschko performance in Hamburg last week; however Alexander Povetkin had his moments of recognition. He struggled at first but finally delivered a brutal Tyson/Botha-like one punch KO in his homecoming fight in Chekhov, Russia.

Teke Oruh, who faced Povetkin, - caught the Russian with a sudden left hook in round 2 and successfully blocked most of Povetkin' combos in return.  Alexander seemed to be thinking about something else, and not the fight, as he was moving nicely, sometimes cutting the ring and cornering his opponent, but never throwing a good punch.

Oruh used the same strategy once again in round 4, when Povetkin found himself caught with a right hand shots to the temple not once but three times. The Russian's coach Teddy Atlas was upset and appeared ready to land something big on his fighter in the corner - but his screaming and swearing had made Povetkin think and act. He started using his jab, intimidated Oruh with the right hand, and then slowed the pace of the fight, which made the opponent think the bear had returned to his den - and right at the moment when Oruh started to believe Povetkin was returning to his shell - he was nailed with a straight right hand that had him out.

"The thing I liked about the shot was that he didn't just throw it - he timed him! He made him walk into this punch and knocked him out. That's was what he was trained to do!" - Atlas said afterwards.

Hagen Doering of Sauerland Event confirmed that Povetkin is not going to fight in Germany on October 30.

"It was not an easy fight for him, you know. The opponent didn't have a fight in 2 years and Povetkin was out for 6 months. He's working on his physical condition and his technique, but he needs to rest a little to come back in one of our shows. Maybe December 18." - Hagen said. 

Teddy Atlas was telling everyone almost the same thing and it appears that Team Povetkin has finally set up a new plan for the Russian. At first Atlas demanded more fights - up to 6-8 in a year to gain experience and get his fighter's mind in the right mood. Now he is not so sure of this tactic. Povetkin is not a young Mike Tyson, he is 31, he is already in the top 10 and he can't properly motivate himself for the lesser opponents. Teddy admitted that the fighter needs some rest and just can't take a fight in 2 weeks. So he is fighting in December against an opponent to be determined by Sauerland Event and Atlas.

"It was hard for me to get things going after the long layoff. I need to fight more often and work a little more. This was not a very good performance, I guess. I couldn't get things going, couldn't feel the rhythm like I had lost something and found it only in the last two rounds" - Povetkin said.

On the undercard of the boxing show in Chekhov, featherweight Pavel Malikov had fought six action packed rounds against Bairam Muhammedov, knocked him down with a body shot in round six and got the decision. He was close to stopping the opponent a couple of times but Muhammedov managed to survive. In the opening fight of the evening, Nikolay Potapov knocked down Rauf Agayev 3 times in round one and got the stoppage. The knockdowns were spectacular and the public enjoyed the entrance - Potapov was walking to the ring wearing some kind of prison robe.