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After a successful amateur kickboxing career that included winning World Junior championship in 1997, World title in 1999 and a European professional kickboxing title in 2000, Povetkin won his first major boxing tournament at the Russian Championships in 2000 at the age of 21.

His amateur success would culminate in winning the gold medal at super-heavyweight (>91 kg) at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. After taking Olympic Gold, he concluded his amateur career with a record of 125-7, with all losses avenged.

Povetkin took a year off before making the decision to turn pro. After meeting with several fight promoters, Povetkin signed a contract to fight for Sauerland Events. Unlike other promoters, Sauerland would allow Povetkin to train mainly in his native Russia and fight primarily out of Germany.

On March 3, 2007, Povetkin scored a TKO over the experienced David Bostice. Three months later, Alex fought Larry Donald and cruised to an easy unanimous decision win.

On October 27, 2007, Povetkin met former world title holder Chris Byrd, who had lost his title to Klitschko the year before. Povetkin won the fight by way of an 11th round TKO victory. Byrd put up more resistance than Donald was ultimately overwhelmed and his corner threw in the towel.

On January 26, 2008, after initial problems, Povetkin defeated Chambers by unanimous decision to become the mandatory challenger for Klitschko. However, Povetkin withdrew from the fight against Klitschko citing an injury. Many believe he was forced to back out because his trainer didn't believe Alex was ready to face the younger Klitschko.

In August 2011, Povetkin defeated Ruslan Chagaev by unanimous decision to win a fringe (regular) version of the WBA Title.