If former heavyweight titleholder Bermane Stiverne is going to get the rematch with Deontay Wilder that he covets he will have to beat Alexander Povetkin first and do it on Povetkin’s Russian turf.

They meet for a vacant interim title on Saturday at the Ekaterinburg Expo Center in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Stiverne lost his heavyweight world title to Wilder by one-sided decision in January 2015 and blamed his poor performance on dehydration, which landed him in the hospital for two days following the bout.

Stiverne has fought and won only once since but will square off with Povetkin for the interim belt that became available because Wilder is recovering from summer arm and hand surgery (although he is expected back in February). The winner of the fight will become Wilder’s mandatory challenger.

Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) said he has no plans to play around with the 37-year-old Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs). The way he sees it a knockout is necessary given the hostile territory on which the fight will take place.

“Yes, I do plan to win by KO,” Stiverne said. “I have to. I can’t come all the way here and let the judge make my decision. I gotta have my own decision. When I say I’m gonna knock him out, it’s not any disrespectful thing or I’m trying to trash talk. This is what I believe and this is what I trained for.

“Anybody who would come here and try and get a decision in his backyard would be a fool to believe that. It’s the same thing if he came to my home; he has to try to knock me out. And what better way to win a title than by knockout?”

Stiverne, 38, has been in Russia for the past week and even though he was born in Haiti and lives and trains in Las Vegas, he said he had had no problem adjusting to the cold weather. After all, Stiverne pointed out that he lived for many years north of the border.

“I’m used to (the cold),” he said. “I lived in Canada, in Montreal. It’s the same kind of weather, probably colder here because when it’s cold there it’s like January/February. It’s very cold, like minus 30, but it’s nothing I’ve never seen before.”

The winner will emerge as a factor in a rejuvenated heavyweight division that boasts three young, undefeated titleholders in Wilder; Anthony Joshua, who will face former longtime world champion Wladimir Klitschko in a mega fight on April 29; and Joseph Parker, who won a vacant belt by majority decision against Andy Ruiz Jr. last Saturday.

Stiverne hopes to insert himself in the conversation by beating Povetkin.

“The heavyweight division is exciting,” Stiverne said. “It was quiet for a little bit of time, but now it’s back in action and is back where it used to be and I’m happy to be a part of it or in the mix.”