“Neither Beterbiev nor his political views are very interesting” – Povetkin

Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin admitted to Komsomolskaya Pravda that he does not see himself as a coach, and also commented on the situation with Arthur Beterbiev’s citizenship.

Earlier, the WBC, IBF and IBO organizations refused to recognize fights involving Russian and Belarusian athletes due to the situation in Ukraine. According to media reports, Beterbiev, who also has Canadian citizenship, may start playing in the ring under the flag of this country.

– I educate young people, push them to train, I advise them coaches. What’s up to me? You know, not every good boxer will make a good coach. Will I become a good coach or not is a big question. I have no desire to become a coach. I want to help, suggest – yes. But to train … So far, I don’t see myself in this. And then we’ll see.

– Another Russian from the world top is Artur Beterbiev. But now the WBC president wants to deprive Beterbiev of the right to compete under the Russian flag. What should Arthur do?

“I don’t want to talk about it. To be honest, I am not very interested in either Beterbiev or his political views. But he is definitely a strong boxer. Will he stand a chance against Joe Smith Jr.? We’ll see, we’ll see.

The undefeated 37-year-old Beterbiev (17 wins in 17 fights) is the IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion of the world. On June 18 in New York, he is scheduled to fight American Joe Smith for the unified WBO, WBC and IBF title.