Povetkin’s KO Over Perez Earns him Mandatory for Wilder

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Alexander Povetkin There was plenty riding on the outcome of Alexander Povetkin and Mike Perez’s 12 round heavyweight fight. The winner would be in prime position to face Deontay Wilder for his WBC heavyweight title, and Wilder admitted as much on Thaboxingvoice’s twice weekly radio show last Thursday.

Povetkin, who had the luxury of fighting in his home country of Russia, had racked up two wins in a row since suffering his first career loss to Wladimir Klitschko in October 2013, both wins coming by knockout. Perez has had a rough going over the past year and entered this fight 1-1-1 since the beginning of 2014.

Povetkin looked great from the opening bell and worked his jab early in the round. While utilizing the jab, Povetkin landed a hard right hand that showed Perez his power and gave us a strong indicator of things to follow.

After showcasing a nice lead left hook, Povetkin hit Perez with a strong right hand that shook Perez badly, although he was still up for the moment. Perez was hurt, but tried to keep his wits and landed one punch before Povetkin sniffed out another devastating right hand that absolutely dropped Perez. The punch didn’t just knock Perez down, it took away his legs immediately and sapped him of his strength completely.

Povetkin didn’t need much time to take care of Perez, but it probably won’t be the same cakewalk with Wilder. Although, Wilder might still be in trouble because Povetkin is a hard puncher that knows how to put punches together on a fighter, especially one with faulty footwork. Obviously Wilder’s power is concerning for someone like Povetkin that was knocked down 4 times in the Klitschko fight.

This fight is about power and either man could end it early, but only one of them is prone to leaving their chin out there a little too long.