Alexander Povetkin believes he will be ready to fight Dillian Whyte in March.
The 41-year-old Russian was due to fight Whyte in a rematch in November, but a positive coronavirus result meant that the date of the second bout was provisionally set for January.
However, Povetkin suffered from a relatively serious case of the virus and was hospitalised at least once for treatment.
That led to a further postponement for the duo to dispute the interim WBC championship, which would likely entitle the holder to fight the winner of Tyson Fury v Anthony Joshua.
Whyte had suggested that he did not believe that the current holder of the title really had a case of coronavirus, but Povetkin has now said he will be able to return to competitive action in the spring.
Speaking to Russian news service TASS, he was asked if he would be able to fight Whyte before March 2021, he stated: "Yes, I believe it is possible."
Povetkin said that he had now started training in preparation for the rematch.
"Everything seems to be all right at the moment," he said.
"I started jogging every morning and just recently I resumed my gym workouts and my work on focus mitts. So everything goes in line with the schedule.
"There were no complications and everything turned out to be all right."
"As soon as I received intravenous infusion at hospital, my temperature immediately receded," Povetkin continued.
"I certainly suffered some fatigue, but on the whole, everything was okay and I have nothing to complain about."
Povetkin and Whyte first fought on 22 August as part of Matchroom’s Fight Camp series during Britain’s first coronavirus lockdown. Whyte was the favourite going into the match-up but was knocked out by a Povetkin uppercut in round five.