By Luke Furman

There are ongoing discussions to make a December fight between former world heavyweight world champion Alexander Povetkin (32-1, 23 KOs) of Russia and dangerous German contender Christian Hammer (22-4, 12 KOs).

If a deal comes together, would take place on December 15 in Yekaterinburg, according to he executive director of the promotional company RCC Boxing Promotions, Alexey Titov. On Monday, World of Boxing - who promoted Povetkin - announced the December date and said the WBO International belt will be at stake.

"For us it's going to the second event with Povetkin. The tournament will be held at the Palace of game and sports, which can accommodate five thousand spectators. In terms of the show being sold-out, I think there won't be any problems at all. As for the opponent, we are considering Hammer. We have to sign the contracts, I think we will close it all off by the end of next week and officially announce it," Titov said to Vasily Konov.

This will be Povetkin's second fight of the year. He last fought in July, winning a unanimous decision over Andriy Rudenko of Ukraine.

The Olympic gold medal winner was in action in Yekaterinburg on December 17, 2016 when he knocked out late replacement Johann Duhaupas of France.

The original opponent for last December, Bermane Stiverne, withdrew from the fight after Povetkin tested positive for a banned substance. Earlier in the same year, Povetkin tested positive for another banned substance, which caused his bout with WBC champion Deontay Wilder to get canceled.

Hammer has had a solid run of victories since his last defeat, back in February 2015 to Tyson Fury. Among the wins in the last two years, decision wins over Sherman Williams and Erkan Teper, a knockout victory over Michael Sprott and Olympic bronze medal winner David Price, and a decision over Zine Eddine Benmakhlouf.

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.