Evander Holyfield's dream of a fifth reign as world heavyweight champion has been put on hold – for now. This week WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin's promoters Sauerland Event of Germany announced that the Russian would make his first title defense at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland on December 3 against American contender Cedric Boswell.

In a statement released by Sauerland Event, Povetkin said: 

"Winning a world title was like a dream coming true for me, now I need to prove myself against quality contenders out there. I look forward to fighting Boswell. He is a tough opponent. But I have worked so hard to become champion there is no way I will allow him to take the belt away from me. I can promise my fans an exciting fight in Helsinki on December 3rd." 

''Cedric who?'' I hear some of you ask. 42 year old Cedric ''The Boz'' Boswell (35-1, 26 KO's) is a 17 year professional veteran. Highly touted as a future champion in the mid-1990s, the Detroit born, Atlanta based Boswell had a three-year hiatus from the ring between 1999 and 2002.

In October 2003, Boswell took a 21-0 record into a fight against ranked contender Jameel McCline, and was TKO'd in 10 rounds - his only career defeat. The loss to McCline disillusioned Boswell, who stayed out of the ring for a further three years before returning in 2006. Despite his advanced age, the 6'3" Boswell normally keeps his weight inside the 230 lb mark, and is a fast punching slick moving boxer with an excellent jab and hard right cross.

Boswell's standout victories are a two round TKO over Russian born Israeli prospect Roman Greenberg, a ninth round knockout of Owen Beck, a points when over former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver McCall in 2011, and most recently a 10 round decision over Kertson Manswell, the Trinidadian famous for appearing on Sky TVs Prizefighter International Heavyweight competition, and taking the eventual winner Cuba's big punching Mike Perez the distance.

Boswell is ranked only 14th in the WBA's current world ratings. He is also ranked 13th by both the WBC and the IBF. There had been much speculation prior to Sauerland Event's announcement that Povetkin would make his first title defense against Holyfield this winter. As recently as two weeks ago the Georgia legend was quoted as saying:

''I want to be the world heavyweight champion for the fifth time in my career. That's my big dream. I dream of challenging Russia's Alexander Povetkin, the current WBA champion." 

More recently a second ageing big-name opponent had been linked with Povetkin – former two-time WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, who although now 38 years old and without a win over a genuine contender for more than six years, finds himself ranked no.1 by the WBA. 

Throughout its history the World Boxing Association has provided fight fans with rankings that are genuinely baffling –  a recent  example being in 2010, when New Zealand's 40 year old Kali Meehan was ranked no.1 heavyweight contender, despite never beating a marquee name heavyweight in his career, and being inactive for the previous two years! 

Ironically, by picking what on paper may seem the softest option, in choosing Boswell, Povetkin's brain-trust may have chosen the more lively opponent. Boswell may be comparatively unknown, but should present a tougher challenge than the obese Rahman (284 lbs in his last fight) or the pedestrian Holyfield (50 next birthday). 

32 year old Povetkin (22-0, 15 KO's) won the WBA 'regular' heavyweight title (Wladimir Klitschko has been elevated to the status of WBA super heavyweight world champion) in August with a twelve round decision over former champ Ruslan Chagaev. The Russian is trained by American Teddy Atlas, and has defeated top fighters like Larry Donald, Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers during his six year pro career. Prior to that, Povetkin was an outstanding amateur and won gold in the super heavyweight class at 2004 Athens Olympics. 

Why will the Povetkin v Boswell matchup be staged in Finland? Because undefeated Swedish-born, German based Finn Robert Helenius will feature on the undercard, possibly in a WBA final eliminator. The 6'7" Finn is ranked third in the world by the IBF and WBA. 27-year-old Helenius (16-0, 11 KO's) has stopped former WBC champ Sam Peter and WBO title holder Siarhei Liakovich in 2011, and has been mentioned as a genuine threat to the dominance of the Klitschko brothers in the near future. 

As the bill's promoter Kalle Sauerland of Sauerland Event said:

"This is going to be a true night of heavyweight explosions. Alexander Povetkin is one of the most exciting and fastest heavyweights since many years. He will prove his worth against Boswell, a world-class contender with an excellent record. On top of that, KO specialist and world-ranked No. 1 challenger Robert Helenius has set the bar very high for another massive performance after KO'ing three former champions. It is going to be a real advertisement for heavyweight boxing."