Alexander Povetkin: former world heavyweight champion retires

Former world heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin says he is retiring from boxing because he needs time to fully recover from coronavirus.

"I'm no longer young. I have decided to end my career," said the Russian, 41.

Povetkin was WBC interim heavyweight champion until he was stopped by Briton Dillian Whyte in a rematch in March.

It was the third defeat of a career which yielded 36 wins, with the other losses to Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko.

The fight had been postponed from November 2020 after Povetkin tested positive for Covid-19.

Povetkin, who held the WBA title from 2011-13 and also won gold in the super-heavyweight class at the 2004 Olympics, said the illness had made it hard for him to train.

"It will take a long time, and I am not 20 years old anymore," TASS cited him as saying.