Former heavyweight world titlist Bermane Stiverne said he views his upcoming fight with Alexander Povetkin for a vacant interim belt as simply a way to get back to the fight he wants most: A rematch with Deontay Wilder.

Wilder easily beat Stiverne by lopsided decision to take the title from him in January 2015 in Las Vegas. Stiverne is facing Russia’s Povetkin for the vacant interim belt on Dec. 17 in Ekaterinburg, Russia because Wilder suffered biceps and hand injuries that required surgery following his eighth-round knockout of Chris Arreola in a July title defense and left him unable to make a mandatory defense.

Wilder will be sidelined until at least early 2017, and the Povetkin-Stiverne winner will be his mandatory challenger.

“I’ve fought everywhere and a ring is a ring, no issue at all going to Russia. I’ll be well prepared for victory over Povetkin on Dec. 17th and then it’s onto Wilder.”

Bermane Stiverne

“I’ve got a great opportunity with this fight to get back what I had,” Stiverne said. “Deontay Wilder has my belt. He beat me on my worst night. All I want is the chance to win the world title again and (WBC president) Mauricio (Sulaiman) and the WBC say I have to go through Alexander Povetkin and that’s what I’m going to do on Dec. 17.”

Since the loss to Wilder, Stiverne, 38, a Haiti native living and training in Las Vegas, has only fought once, a 10-round decision against journeyman Derric Rossy, who dropped him in the first round, last November. But he said the layoff won’t be an issue.

“I feel great. This fight has been in the making for a while so I’ve been here training at home,” said Stiverne, who is training at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas with longtime trainer Don House. “I’m always training so the time off isn’t a concern of mine.”

There has been some distraction, however, because on Nov. 11, Stiverne tested positive for the banned substance methylhexaneamine, a stimulant also known as dimethyamylamine or DMAA, during a Voluntary Anti-Doping Association test conducted as part of the WBC’s Clean Boxing Program.

Despite the positive test, the WBC said it would still sanction the bout because Stiverne had never previously tested positive for anything and because “there is no evidence that Stiverne intentionally or even knowingly ingested a banned substance with the purpose of enhancing his performance in any fashion. Stiverne’s ingestion of DMAA was purely accidental.”

Stiverne (25-2-1, 21 KOs) said he took the dietary supplement Superharm in front of the sample collector and it caused the positive test.

Stiverne said he is not going to dwell on the test result and is instead focused on Povetkin, who has had his own recent issues, having tested positive for meldonium in a VADA-conducted test earlier this year, which forced his mandatory fight with Wilder scheduled for May 21 in Russia to be canceled. The WBC ultimately limited Povetkin’s punishment because the amount in his system was far below the threshold accepted by the World Anti-Doping Agency in an updated notice on the drug published in June. Povetkin maintains that while he used meldonium he said he did not take it after it was added to the WADA banned list in January.

Stiverne compared the 37-year-old Povetkin (30-1-0, 22 KOs) to Arreola, whom Stiverne beat twice, including by sixth-round knockout to win the vacant belt in 2014. Stiverne lost it to Wilder in his next fight.

“I’ve watched a few of Povetkin’s fights,” Stiverne said. “He’s similar in size to Chris Arreola but also very skilled from his deep amateur background, solid puncher but not the tightest defense.”

Stiverne has fought most of his fights in the United States with two in and Canada, where he used to live, and one in Switzerland in 2010. He said he is fine with going to Russia to face Povetkin, whose team won the purse bid, which allowed it to dictate the location of the bout.

“I’ve fought everywhere and a ring is a ring, no issue at all going to Russia,” Stiverne said. “I’ll be well prepared for victory over Povetkin on Dec. 17th and then it’s onto Wilder.”