Povetkin vs Rahman: Alexander Povetkin says Huck fight is in the past, ready for 'The Rock'

This Saturday on Epix in the United States and BoxNation in the UK, as well as ARD in Germany, Alexander Povetkin will defend the WBA "regular" heavyweight title against veteran American Hasim Rahman. Chris Mannix of Epix had a chance to interview Povetkin before the fight.

[ Related: Rahman Promises KO ]

Chris Mannix, Epix: "Alexander, you're coming off a very close decision win over Marco Huck. How do you feel you fought that fight?"

Alexander Povetkin: "It was a pretty hard fight, and was a big lesson for me. Like being in a school. And so I learned a lot from this fight. I will get better and better."

Mannix: "You seemed to tire pretty quickly in that fight. Can you explain why you got so fatigued, so early?"

Povetkin: "To be honest, this fight is over for me in my head. It was long ago, so I have put it out of my mind. I learned what my mistakes were, and we learned hard to get better in many things. So now, I'm just looking forward to having a better fight this time."

Mannix: "You made a change in your corner, replacing Alexander Zimin with Kostya Tszyu. Why the change?"

Povetkin: "There is a simple explanation for that. It's just that Alexander Zimin got sick, quite seriously. He is now, of course, better, and training already with other kids. He can't travel that much, and is not allowed to get stressed. And that is why we made a decision to go with Kostya Tszyu."

Mannix: "Kostya's a Hall of Famer. What has he brought to your training camp?"

Povetkin: "First of all, he's a real good person, and a real good friend, and a great person to work with. Secondly, he's really teaching me to be able to go longer. How to condition in a special way, in a strength way, so I can last longer with more strength over the rounds."

Mannix: "You're fighting in Hasim Rahman who's 39 years old, and someone many believe doesn't deserve to be here. How do you keep yourself from not getting overconfident going into this fight?"

Povetkin: "Yeah, I have big respect for Hasim and what he's done in the past. So I do not underestimate him, and I respect him. I took my preparation for this fight with a lot of responsibility. So I gave it my best and did my best."

Bad Left Hook will have live round-by-round coverage of the Povetkin vs Rahman card on Saturday afternoon.