WBA Heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17) maybe a much maligned fighter though for many he is still one of the best in division. He will be hoping to show off the form that saw him rapidly climbing the rankings as he defends his title this coming Friday against relatively unknown Pole Andrzej Wawrzyk (27-0, 13).
As an amateur Povetkin was genuinely special. He was not only part of the Russian national team but was also one of the most decorated fighters in the team with 125 wins from 132 bouts including championship wins in the Olympics, the World Amateur Championships and the European Amateur Championships.
Since turning professional there was always a lot of expectation on Povetkin's shoulders and whilst he did race up the rankings thanks to victories over Eddie Chambers and Chris Byrd he has recently taken a lot of stick for avoiding bouts with Wladimir Klitschko and other meaningful Heavyweights. This abuse has been doubled up by the fact that the that the 33 year has appeared to regress in recent bouts which has again left him open to complaints from fans.
In the ring Povetkin is skilled. He has good knowledge of the ring, has decent handspeed, hurtful power, fantastic range of shots, solid defense and when he's in an offensive rhythm he's a genuine joy to watch. Sadly for all his good traits there are question marks over his heart, his chin and his stamina with all 3 looking like genuinely average and like limiting factors.
Having been a professional world champion since August 2011 Povetkin has been facing genuinely awful competition in his defenses including Hasim Rahman and Cedric Boswell as well as Cruiserweight Marco Huck (who came incredibly close to stopping Povetkin in their tear up). It appears, win or lose, that the Russian will be taking some serious criticism with this bout against Wawrzyk.
Relatively unknown to boxing fans unbeaten Pole Wawrzyk is 25 years old and has surprisingly been a professional since 2006. Although a bit of an obscure fighter he has claimed various titles including a Polish national title, a WBC "youth" title, and regional WBA and WBC belts as he's quietly climbed up the rankings.
Despite the fact he has an impressive Wawrzyk has only really faced C level fights such as Tomasz Bonin, Robert Hawkins and Denis Bahktov. It's actually the Bahktov fight though that has told us more about Wawrzyk than any other bout as we saw him hurt from counters over his lazy jab, and if Bahktov can take advantage of that then Povetkin certainly can as well.
Although popular back home in Poland, Wawrzyk has fought abroad several times, though last time he did fight away from home was way back in 2010 when he faced Harvey Jolly in the US. Whilst he may not be that afraid of fighting away from home, he is stepping up and going in to the lion's den, where he is supposed to the lamb to the slaughter.
I'd be shocked if Wawrzyk remained in the fight beyond round 9. He's going to take a real battering when Povetkin warms in to the bout and takes advantage of the Pole's short comings. Expect a good start by the challenger, though it won't take long before the champion gets going and forces a stoppage.
Prediction-Povetkin TKO7
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