The Last Real Challenge? Klitschko-Povetkin Preview

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This Saturday HBO will be live in Russia to present a boxing fight featuring 1 of the best heavyweights of our generation. Live from Moscow, about every heavyweight belt known will be on the line as the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world, Wladimir Klitschko (60-3 with 51 KOs) will defend his IBF, WBA, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championship belts against the #5 ranked heavyweight in the world, Alexander Povetkin (26-0 with 18 KOs).

Wladimir Klitschko is probably the best heavyweight of this era and would have competed with any heavyweight of any era. Along with his brother, Vitali, they have dominated the division for plenty of years. He may not have a Lennox Lewis type fight on his resume like Vitali did, but he does have 2 wins over recent heavyweight titleholder Tony Thompson, along with wins over David Haye, Eddie Chambers, Ruslan Chagaev, Sultan Ibragimov, Samuel Peters, and 2 wins over someone that Vitali lost to, albeit because of a shoulder injury, Chris Byrd. Wladimir was upset in a stunning loss to Lamont Brewster in the start of 2004, since then, he has won 18 straight fights with only 4 of them going the distance. Like his brother, who he has said he will never fight, and vice versa, Wladimir is as sure of a bet to win his fights as any individual or team in the world is to win in their sport.

Alexander Povetkin is an undefeated fighter who has solid power and is no slouch in the heavyweight division. His best wins are over the likes of Marco Huck, Eddie Chambers, and Ruslan Chagaev. He is not very known by the casual boxing fan, but at 34 years old, he hopes to pull off the upset of upsets. Every single 1 of Povetkin’s fights have either been in Germany or his home country of Russia, so this fight will definitely comfortable for him. Unfortunately, it will also be comfortable for Klitschko, who was born in Kazakhstan and has fought all over the world. As boxing fans, we’ve all seen the impossible happen and in the heavyweight division, we all know anything can happen, aka the Buster Douglas rule. However, for Povetkin to pull this off, he’s going to have to get inside, attack the body and somehow stun Klitschko with a close inside punch.

The biggest issue that Povetkin will have is getting inside of Wladimir’s deadly jab. At times Klitschko can go an entire fight just using his jab and by the 3rd or 4th round, the opponent’s eye will already start swelling up. Povetkin will have a 6 inch disadvantage on the reach and he is 4 inches shorter, so Wladimir can just punch down to him. Hopefully Povetkin can catch him with a punch early and test that chin that has been shaky at time for Wladimir, but I don’t see it. This fight will probably 1 of those slow death fights where Wladimir’s opponent’s corner typically throws in the towel to stop the punishment. So with that in mind, I have to say Klitschko wins by stoppage in the 7th round. Hopefully it will be entertaining, but no matter what, you’ll be watching greatness, and how can you ever turn down watching that? Enjoy the fights.