Those who have complained about the low level of competition that heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder has faced can at least hang their hat on the fact that if the WBC keeps its word, his next fight will be against a legitimate opponent -- the very dangerous former titleholder Alexander Povetkin, who has been fighting extremely well in recent bouts.

Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) defended his title for the second time on Saturday night against the unknown Johann Duhaupas and bludgeoned the massive underdog into a one-sided 11th-round knockout.

Both of Wilder's defenses, against Duhaupas and a ninth-round knockout of Eric Molina in June, were against opponents who had done zero to warrant a world title shot. In fact, other than Wilder's impressive decision win against Bermane Stiverne in January, his entire career has been spent facing woeful opposition.

Povetkin, however, is a real guy. A real threat. A worthy challenger. He was an Olympic gold medalist for Russia in 2004 (Wilder claimed bronze in 2008), and his only loss came to the real heavyweight champ, Wladimir Klitschko, by near-shutout decision in 2013, a fight in which Povetkin was knocked down four times.

However, since then Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) has looked sharp in his three fights, knocking out Manuel Charr, Carlos Takam (spectacularly) and Mike Perez, whom he took out in the first round to the surprise of everyone.

There are some who believed that Wilder would be given another optional defense before the mandatory fight, but Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC, told ESPN.com on Monday that, no, the mandatory must be Wilder's next fight, even though Povetkin is scheduled for a fight first. He meets former title challenger Mariusz Wach on Nov. 4 in Russia.

"Wilder just fought a voluntary defense and is in line to make the mandatory defense," Sulaiman said. "The mandatory is Povetkin."

Sulaiman said that after Povetkin fights on Nov. 4, and assuming he wins, the WBC will order the negotiations for Wilder-Povetkin.

Should the sides be unable to make a deal, the WBC would order a purse bid. If everything stays on course, Wilder-Povetkin would likely be in the first quarter or so of 2016.