It's been a very long time since we saw a proverbial "passing of the torch" in the Heavyweight division. This weekend however does give us a chance at doing just that as unbeaten Russian Alexander Povektin (26-0, 18) finally faces Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko (60-3, 51) in a long awaited battle for the title of Heavyweight Kingpin.
The 34 year old Russian, a former amateur stand out who won both the World Amateur and Olympic Gold medals, is a man on a mission. A mission that he was set when he first turned professional just over 8 years ago. To become the world Heavyweight champion.
It was, in the eyes of many a goal Povetkin looked set to do with ease when he first burst on to the professional ranks with a difficult schedule of matches that he made look easy. Unfortunately in recent years however he has gone, at least in the eyes of the media, from future king the court jester as bouts have fallen through whilst other, less interesting, bouts have managed to materialise.
When Povetkin should have been fighting the likes of Klitschko and David Haye he has been busy fighting old men like Hasim Rahman and Cedric Boswell. This has seen many fans, as well as media, turn away from Povetkin though it has looked at times like he's been fighting within himself with only Marco Huck really pushing him so far and we all know that Huck gives anyone a good fight.
With solid skills, decent power, decent speed and toughness Povetkin does look like a challenger who has the abilities to trouble anyone in the division. As well as those skills however Povetkin appears to have had a few jokers up his sleeve for this bout. Firstly it's in Moscow, the Russian capital where Povetkin will be a bigger fan favourite than Klitschko. This is a huge change to Klitschko's usual fights where he is the home fighter and the man who the fans are behind.
The second joker has been the mind games played by the Povetkin camp who have asked Dereck Chisora to observe the hand wrapping of Klitschko. After Klitschko and Chisora have had several run in's together this is a clever strategy of trying to throw the usually calm Klitschko.
The final one has been that Povetkin has actually shown up to this fight. In two prior meetings scheduled between these two Povetkin has pulled out, this time however the Russian is here and here to fight. This alone could throw Klitschko who may have been expecting another pull out from Russian.
Although Povetkin has got those jokers in his pocket it's fair to say that he will still need to get in the ring and beat the 37 year old Ukrainian, a man many have viewed as the premier Heavyweight for the better part of a decade.
Although Klitschko has made a career out of the jab and grab technique he is a highly skilled and powerful fighter himself with surprising hand speed, educated control of distance and a potent right hand. If that right lands clean most fighters will fall.
It's actually the grab part of Klitschko's tactics that lead me to thinking Povetkin will win here. Povetkin isn't a former Cruiserweight, like Haye or Moremeck, he's a strong, powerful Heavyweight who will be able to hold his own in the clinches. Povetkin also isn't a lazy fighter, he's a fighter who has shown a willingness to go to the well to retain his unbeaten record, as he did against Ruslan Chagaev and Marco Huck. I can see him showing that same heart and mental fortitude to get inside and despite being grabbed he will still unload on the inside slowly but surely out-working and breaking down Klitschko.
I know it's an outside bet but I'll be backing Povetkin by stoppage here!
Prediction-Povetkin TKO8
Showing posts with label Heavyweight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Heavyweight. Show all posts
Friday, 4 October 2013
Tuesday, 14 May 2013
Alexander Povetkin v Andrzej Wawrzyk
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
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
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Wladimir Klitshcko v Francesco Pianeta
The #1 Heavyweight in the world, Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50) will have been watching on in recent weeks as a number of other top Heavyweights have been on action, though now comes his turn as he faces the unbeaten Italian Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15).
Having seen the likes of Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne in action it's unlikely that the WBA "Super", WBO, IBF and Ring magazine champion will be shaking in his boots, though at 37 years old those younger men actually look like the future of the division whilst Klitschko himself looks like the present and possibly even the past of the division.
Against the 28 year old Pianeta it's fair to say that Klitschko is a notably older man than his challenger though with age comes his experience and more than twice as many bouts, in fact Klitschko has had almost as many world title fights (22) as Pianeta has total bouts. With "Dr Steel hammer" looking for win #60 it's amazing to think his opponent is entering just his 30's professional bout.
Not only does Klitschko have a clear edge in experience but he's also got the power edge with an eye opening 80.65% of his bouts ending via stoppage in his favour compared to just 51.72% of Pianeta's and that's with out even mentioning the vast quality difference in opponents. To be totally honest it's incredibly difficult to actually point out a Pianeta victory worth talking about with his best opponents so far being the likes of Matt Skelton, Oliver McCall and Robert Sosnowski all distinctly C grade opponents when compared to Klitschko.
Pianeta may be unbeaten but his competition does somewhat explain why and comparing it to Klitschko's competition over the last few years shows the huge disparity in competition with Klitschko holding wins over Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev and David Haye amongst others.
Despite being a southpaw and pretty much the same size as Klitschko it's hard to see Pianeta being anything more than another victim of Klitschko. It's true that Klitschko v Ibragimov (another southpaw) was one of the worst fights in Heavyweight title history but Ibragimov was a very talented fighter and Pianeta really isn't.
Klitschko has a reputation for dragging fights out with his safety first mentality and it's likely he'll do the same here before throwing, and landing the straight right which holds explosive power. With Pianeta being a southpaw he's liable to be caught even more cleanly than orthodox fighters by the straight right ("the kryptonite of southpaw's) and when it connects it'll be good night Mr Pianeta.
Prediction-Klitschko KO8
Having seen the likes of Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne in action it's unlikely that the WBA "Super", WBO, IBF and Ring magazine champion will be shaking in his boots, though at 37 years old those younger men actually look like the future of the division whilst Klitschko himself looks like the present and possibly even the past of the division.
Against the 28 year old Pianeta it's fair to say that Klitschko is a notably older man than his challenger though with age comes his experience and more than twice as many bouts, in fact Klitschko has had almost as many world title fights (22) as Pianeta has total bouts. With "Dr Steel hammer" looking for win #60 it's amazing to think his opponent is entering just his 30's professional bout.
Not only does Klitschko have a clear edge in experience but he's also got the power edge with an eye opening 80.65% of his bouts ending via stoppage in his favour compared to just 51.72% of Pianeta's and that's with out even mentioning the vast quality difference in opponents. To be totally honest it's incredibly difficult to actually point out a Pianeta victory worth talking about with his best opponents so far being the likes of Matt Skelton, Oliver McCall and Robert Sosnowski all distinctly C grade opponents when compared to Klitschko.
Pianeta may be unbeaten but his competition does somewhat explain why and comparing it to Klitschko's competition over the last few years shows the huge disparity in competition with Klitschko holding wins over Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev and David Haye amongst others.
Despite being a southpaw and pretty much the same size as Klitschko it's hard to see Pianeta being anything more than another victim of Klitschko. It's true that Klitschko v Ibragimov (another southpaw) was one of the worst fights in Heavyweight title history but Ibragimov was a very talented fighter and Pianeta really isn't.
Klitschko has a reputation for dragging fights out with his safety first mentality and it's likely he'll do the same here before throwing, and landing the straight right which holds explosive power. With Pianeta being a southpaw he's liable to be caught even more cleanly than orthodox fighters by the straight right ("the kryptonite of southpaw's) and when it connects it'll be good night Mr Pianeta.
Prediction-Klitschko KO8
Friday, 9 November 2012
Wladimir Klitschko v Mariusz Wach
Heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko (58-3, 50) will look to make yet another successful defense of his world titles, including the Ring Magazine, WBA "super", WBO and IBF as he faces unbeaten Pole Mariusz Wach (27-0, 15) in an interesting battle of the giants.
Although Wach is unbeaten he is the big under-dog going in to this fight, however some are tipping the Pole to shock the world. I myself can't see it, however it is fair to say that Wach is likely to be Wladimir's biggest challenge in quite some time, in fact at over 6'7" it's fair to say Wach is one of the biggest challenges in the division, period.
With his huge height and unbeaten record Wach does make for an interesting proposition for Klitschko. Then when you also factor in things such as the fact Wach is young than Wladimir by 4 years and also has a marginally bigger reach (82" to Wladimir's 81") it's little a little wonder that some are favouring Wach. Sadly however Wach isn't as good as his record looks and so far, in a career dating back to 2005, Wach hasn't scored a a really major win, instead feasting on club fighters like Kevin McBride and Tye Fields. In fact it's fair to say that Wach's best win to date is over Jason Gavern, not a world level fighter.
Despite the fact Wach hasn't faced anyone near world level, he has shown solid power, especially in recent bouts. In fact despite his record only showing a 55% KO rate he has stopped his last 7 opponents dating back to April 2009 including scoring eye catching KO's over both McBride and Christian Hammer.
Sadly despite seemingly developing his punch power, Wach is slow, he's clumsy and his over-all skills are limited, to say the least. Other than his size it's fair to say there is little to really but shocked by.
Like the challenger, the champion, Wladimir Klitschko is tall, however Klitschko is much, much more than just a tall Heavyweight. As we all know Wladimir is arguably the hardest puncher in the sport with his straight right hand being genuinely deadly, he also posses an excellent, fight controlling jab and whilst he's not got the aggression of some of the most memorable Heavyweights out there he is incredibly hard to beat.
The long standing feeling over Klitschko is that he's chinny and easily beatable as a result, however he's managed to go unbeaten in over 8 years and won no less than 13 title fights in that period. Not only has he been winning, but he's been beating the top guys in the division such as Chris Byrd, Samuel Peter, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, Eddie Chambers and of course the supposed saviour of the division David Haye.
I can't help but think that Klitschko is going to have a bit of a field day with Wach. Wach may be able to, whack (excuse the pun) but Klitschko is able to do a bit more than just punch, so I imagine he'll box, manage to use his superior foot work and get off on Wach in a cautious bout. I think it will start really slowly but Wladimir will manage to detonate his right hand in the middle rounds and Wach will topple. Don't expect this to be exciting, but expect it to be...interesting.
Sadly however, as we all know, Wladimir Klitschko's long term trainer Emmanuel Steward passed away recently. This will be the first time Klitschko will fight with out Steward in a number of years, and hopefully this won't get to Wladimir. As we all know, Wladimir was re-invented under Steward and hopefully this won't see Wlad forgetting the teachings of his much missed mentor.
Prediction: Klitschko KO8
Although Wach is unbeaten he is the big under-dog going in to this fight, however some are tipping the Pole to shock the world. I myself can't see it, however it is fair to say that Wach is likely to be Wladimir's biggest challenge in quite some time, in fact at over 6'7" it's fair to say Wach is one of the biggest challenges in the division, period.
With his huge height and unbeaten record Wach does make for an interesting proposition for Klitschko. Then when you also factor in things such as the fact Wach is young than Wladimir by 4 years and also has a marginally bigger reach (82" to Wladimir's 81") it's little a little wonder that some are favouring Wach. Sadly however Wach isn't as good as his record looks and so far, in a career dating back to 2005, Wach hasn't scored a a really major win, instead feasting on club fighters like Kevin McBride and Tye Fields. In fact it's fair to say that Wach's best win to date is over Jason Gavern, not a world level fighter.
Despite the fact Wach hasn't faced anyone near world level, he has shown solid power, especially in recent bouts. In fact despite his record only showing a 55% KO rate he has stopped his last 7 opponents dating back to April 2009 including scoring eye catching KO's over both McBride and Christian Hammer.
Sadly despite seemingly developing his punch power, Wach is slow, he's clumsy and his over-all skills are limited, to say the least. Other than his size it's fair to say there is little to really but shocked by.
Like the challenger, the champion, Wladimir Klitschko is tall, however Klitschko is much, much more than just a tall Heavyweight. As we all know Wladimir is arguably the hardest puncher in the sport with his straight right hand being genuinely deadly, he also posses an excellent, fight controlling jab and whilst he's not got the aggression of some of the most memorable Heavyweights out there he is incredibly hard to beat.
The long standing feeling over Klitschko is that he's chinny and easily beatable as a result, however he's managed to go unbeaten in over 8 years and won no less than 13 title fights in that period. Not only has he been winning, but he's been beating the top guys in the division such as Chris Byrd, Samuel Peter, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, Eddie Chambers and of course the supposed saviour of the division David Haye.
I can't help but think that Klitschko is going to have a bit of a field day with Wach. Wach may be able to, whack (excuse the pun) but Klitschko is able to do a bit more than just punch, so I imagine he'll box, manage to use his superior foot work and get off on Wach in a cautious bout. I think it will start really slowly but Wladimir will manage to detonate his right hand in the middle rounds and Wach will topple. Don't expect this to be exciting, but expect it to be...interesting.
Sadly however, as we all know, Wladimir Klitschko's long term trainer Emmanuel Steward passed away recently. This will be the first time Klitschko will fight with out Steward in a number of years, and hopefully this won't get to Wladimir. As we all know, Wladimir was re-invented under Steward and hopefully this won't see Wlad forgetting the teachings of his much missed mentor.
Prediction: Klitschko KO8
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
Alexander Povetkin v Hasim Rahman
As boxing fans we are all too aware of mismatches which are made for one reason or another, though rarely do we consider "mandatory title fights" to be mismatches. Sadly however the upcoming WBA Heavyweight title bout between unbeaten champion Alexander Povetkin (24-0, 16) and mandatory challenger Hasim Raham (50-7-2-1, 41) appears to be nothing other than a mandatory mismatch of the highest order.
Despite once being the "the" Heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman is nothing more than a washed up has been (Hasbeen Rahman?) and is a fighter who is not only nearing 40 but is with out a noteworthy win in over 7 years.
Known as "The Rock" Rahman has been a professional since 1994 and started his career excellently with 29 straight wins before being controversially stopped by David Tua in 1998. A year later, Rahman's record had fallen to 31-2 having suffered a second stoppage loss, this time to Oleg Maskaev who knocked Rahman out of the ring.
Rahman fought back hard following his 2 losses and scored wins over the tough Marion Wilson, the late Corrie Sanders and Frankie Swindell. Following those 3 victories he signed to fight Lennox Lewis in a bout for the WBC and IBF Heavyweight titles and scored the biggest upset of 2001 by knocking Lewis out with a monster right hand. Sadly however Rahman's title reign lasted just 7 months before Lewis avenged his loss and knocked out Rahamn.
Following the loss to Lewis Rahman would struggle to restart his career and failed to win any of his next 3 bouts, losing to both Evander Holyfield (TD8) and John Ruiz (UD12) whilst drawing to David Tua in a rematch. Following these set backs at world level Rahman dropped back a level and scored a number of easier victories over a combination of journeymen and fringe level fighters before being lined up to fight Vitali Klitschko. Sadly injuries to Klitschko forced their bout to delayed numerous times, before finally forcing Klitschko to retire. Prior to Klitschko's retirement however Rahman had claimed the WBC "interim" title by defeating Monte Barrett (UD12).
After Vitali Klitschko retired Rahman was promoted to full WBC champion making just 1 successful title defense, a draw with James Toney before being knocked out of the ring for a second time by Oleg Maskaev who claimed the WBC title as a result. Since this loss Rahman has been toiling in relative obscurity barring a loss to Wladimir Klitschko in 2008, where Rahman incidentally filled in after Povetkin pulled out of the bout.
At his best Rahman was a tough and hard hitting fighter, perhaps not genuinely "world class" (despite his victory over Lennox Lewis) but certainly a credible fighter for a world title bout. His best however was some 10 years ago however and since then he has really struggled to make any sort of actual impact. It's fair to say that despite losing only one of his last 11 bouts he has been beating very low level opponents and fighters that really don't register on the world scene.
Whilst Rahman has been wasting his time with meaningless bouts in recent years Povetkin has been a busy man who advanced his professional career quickly before starting to disappoint in recent bouts.
Prior to turning professional Povetkin was an outstanding amateur and won Gold medals at the Olympics (2004), World Amateur Championships (2003) and European Championships (2004, 2002) showing himself to be a genuinely top level amateur. Due to his amateur credentials a lot was expected from him when he turned professional in 2005.
Povetkin's rise through the rankings early in his career was genuinely exceptional as he scored notable wins from the off and with in his first 10 bouts he had already beaten the likes of Friday Ahunanya, Livin Castillo and Imamu Mayfield. His rise continued over his next 5 fights and he quickly became the IBF #1 contender thanks to victories over Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers. At this point he was the hottest thing in Heavyweight.
Sadly since becoming the #1 IBF Povetkin's career has been awfully disappointing, notably by his refusal to actually fight the IBF's champion Wladimir Klitschko which has left many boxing fans thinking he is somewhat a chicken. Instead of facing Klitschko as far back as 2008 Povetkin instead chose to face some very poor opponents such as Taurus Sykes, Javier Mora and Nicolai Firtha.
In 2011 Povetkin finally fulfilled some of his early career promise as he claimed the WBA Heavyweight title by defeating former champion Ruslan Chagaev, though most knew that the WBA title was really a paper title as Wladimir Klitschko had won the WBA "Super" title at Heavyweight. Despite calls, once again, for Povetkin to face Klitschko, the Russian instead choose to face aging American Cedric Boswell before defending against Cruiserweight Marco Huck (in what was an enthralling bout).
Povetkin is a durable fighter and he has solid skills as well as a solid engine but sadly he doesn't seem to do anything fantastically. His skills from the amateurs don't seem to be that sharp, he's not particularly fast and he's not a fighter who has shown any true 1-punch KO power. If anything his strength was his desire early in his career but even that seems to have dropped off in recent bouts.
Despite being a talented fighter Povetkin has disappointed us in his choice of opposition in recent years and whilst we're willing to admit that he is fighting a mandatory opponent in Hasim Rahman this is another poor match for Povetkin. I'd genuinely be shocked if Povetkin struggled here and would happily put money on his scoring a stoppage over Rahman, who will hopefully bow out of the sport following this bout.
Prediction-Povetkin TKO7
Despite once being the "the" Heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman is nothing more than a washed up has been (Hasbeen Rahman?) and is a fighter who is not only nearing 40 but is with out a noteworthy win in over 7 years.
Known as "The Rock" Rahman has been a professional since 1994 and started his career excellently with 29 straight wins before being controversially stopped by David Tua in 1998. A year later, Rahman's record had fallen to 31-2 having suffered a second stoppage loss, this time to Oleg Maskaev who knocked Rahman out of the ring.
Rahman fought back hard following his 2 losses and scored wins over the tough Marion Wilson, the late Corrie Sanders and Frankie Swindell. Following those 3 victories he signed to fight Lennox Lewis in a bout for the WBC and IBF Heavyweight titles and scored the biggest upset of 2001 by knocking Lewis out with a monster right hand. Sadly however Rahman's title reign lasted just 7 months before Lewis avenged his loss and knocked out Rahamn.
Following the loss to Lewis Rahman would struggle to restart his career and failed to win any of his next 3 bouts, losing to both Evander Holyfield (TD8) and John Ruiz (UD12) whilst drawing to David Tua in a rematch. Following these set backs at world level Rahman dropped back a level and scored a number of easier victories over a combination of journeymen and fringe level fighters before being lined up to fight Vitali Klitschko. Sadly injuries to Klitschko forced their bout to delayed numerous times, before finally forcing Klitschko to retire. Prior to Klitschko's retirement however Rahman had claimed the WBC "interim" title by defeating Monte Barrett (UD12).
After Vitali Klitschko retired Rahman was promoted to full WBC champion making just 1 successful title defense, a draw with James Toney before being knocked out of the ring for a second time by Oleg Maskaev who claimed the WBC title as a result. Since this loss Rahman has been toiling in relative obscurity barring a loss to Wladimir Klitschko in 2008, where Rahman incidentally filled in after Povetkin pulled out of the bout.
At his best Rahman was a tough and hard hitting fighter, perhaps not genuinely "world class" (despite his victory over Lennox Lewis) but certainly a credible fighter for a world title bout. His best however was some 10 years ago however and since then he has really struggled to make any sort of actual impact. It's fair to say that despite losing only one of his last 11 bouts he has been beating very low level opponents and fighters that really don't register on the world scene.
Whilst Rahman has been wasting his time with meaningless bouts in recent years Povetkin has been a busy man who advanced his professional career quickly before starting to disappoint in recent bouts.
Prior to turning professional Povetkin was an outstanding amateur and won Gold medals at the Olympics (2004), World Amateur Championships (2003) and European Championships (2004, 2002) showing himself to be a genuinely top level amateur. Due to his amateur credentials a lot was expected from him when he turned professional in 2005.
Povetkin's rise through the rankings early in his career was genuinely exceptional as he scored notable wins from the off and with in his first 10 bouts he had already beaten the likes of Friday Ahunanya, Livin Castillo and Imamu Mayfield. His rise continued over his next 5 fights and he quickly became the IBF #1 contender thanks to victories over Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers. At this point he was the hottest thing in Heavyweight.
Sadly since becoming the #1 IBF Povetkin's career has been awfully disappointing, notably by his refusal to actually fight the IBF's champion Wladimir Klitschko which has left many boxing fans thinking he is somewhat a chicken. Instead of facing Klitschko as far back as 2008 Povetkin instead chose to face some very poor opponents such as Taurus Sykes, Javier Mora and Nicolai Firtha.
In 2011 Povetkin finally fulfilled some of his early career promise as he claimed the WBA Heavyweight title by defeating former champion Ruslan Chagaev, though most knew that the WBA title was really a paper title as Wladimir Klitschko had won the WBA "Super" title at Heavyweight. Despite calls, once again, for Povetkin to face Klitschko, the Russian instead choose to face aging American Cedric Boswell before defending against Cruiserweight Marco Huck (in what was an enthralling bout).
Povetkin is a durable fighter and he has solid skills as well as a solid engine but sadly he doesn't seem to do anything fantastically. His skills from the amateurs don't seem to be that sharp, he's not particularly fast and he's not a fighter who has shown any true 1-punch KO power. If anything his strength was his desire early in his career but even that seems to have dropped off in recent bouts.
Despite being a talented fighter Povetkin has disappointed us in his choice of opposition in recent years and whilst we're willing to admit that he is fighting a mandatory opponent in Hasim Rahman this is another poor match for Povetkin. I'd genuinely be shocked if Povetkin struggled here and would happily put money on his scoring a stoppage over Rahman, who will hopefully bow out of the sport following this bout.
Prediction-Povetkin TKO7
Monday, 3 September 2012
Vitali Klitschko v Manuel Charr
Despite the Heavyweight division being much maligned by both the fans of the actual sport and those that still think Mike Tyson is the champion (trust me there is some of those folk still out there) it's genuinely accepted that the Ukrainian Klitschko Brothers are the #1 and #2 at the weight. This weekend sees the older of the Klitschko's, Vitali (44-2, 40) defending his WBC Heavyweight title against unbeaten challenger Manuel Charr (21-0, 11) in Moscow.
The challenger, significantly the younger man at "just" 27 years old, is widely seen to be a sacrificial lamb as the 41 year old Vitali looks to top off his long and illustrious career with yet another win, however does the man known as "The Diamond Boy" have a chance of a giant upset as age catches up with the champion?
Born in Syria though now based in Germany Charr has been quietly making his name since turning professional in 2005. Though without any spectacular wins to date he has been scoring what could be described "decent" wins over the likes of Gbenga Oloukun (at the time 16-0, 10), Owen Beck (a former world title challenger), Danny Williams (another former title challenger) and Taras Bidenko (who gave the gigantic Nikolay Valuev a competitive bout). Though admittedly the likes of Williams and Beck were several years removed from their best.
Although Charr is unbeaten he hasn't had been fighting against any fellow contenders instead picking off fighters who are either journeymen or noticeably beyond their best years. One of those journeymen, American Zack Page, gave Charr all he could handle at the end of 2010 and Charr should feel fortunate to have come away from that bout with a majority decision as he was pushed close to his first professional loss. Whilst the stoppage of British veteran Danny Williams was questionable at best.
At around 6'3" Charr will be dwarfed in the ring and at around 240-250lbs he's not a fighter in great shape often looking rather doughy. His work rate is far from spectacular and his defense is sloppy at best with a lot of his own attacking work looking more like slaps than real punches however he's a fighter who appears to be confident having already said he will "destroy" Vitali Klitschko and David Haye. In fact Charr has to take credit for having serious balls having walked up to David Haye and challenged him at the press conference after Haye had defeated Dereck Chisora. Testicular fortitude aside Charr appears to have little else going for him.
At 41 years old Vitali Klitschko is significantly older than his challenger and with 46 professional bouts on his record he also has much more experience. However this experience has come at a price and through his illustrious career he has picked up various injuries including a torn rotator cuff, torn ligaments and a badly damaged knee (which forced an early retirement from the sport in 2005 before making a comeback several years later).
Klitschko's professional career started way back in 1996 and has seen him becoming a 3-time champion at Heavyweight having held the WBO title (1999-2000) and the WBC title (2004-2005, 2008-) and scoring notable victories over Herbie Hide, Larry Donald, Corrie Sanders, Samuel Peter, Juan Carlos Gomez, Shannon Briggs, Odlanier Solis, Chris Arreola, T omasz Adamek and most recently Dereck Chisora. However he has had set backs including not only his short lived retirement but also losses to Chris Byrd (due to the aforementioned torn rotator cuff) and Lennox Lewis (due to serious cuts). As well as the set backs he hasn't really been accepted by certain quarters of the boxing community who have failed to accept him as a high quality operator in the ring.
Standing at a lofty 6'7" and coming in to the ring in the region of 240-250 Klitschko has an excellent build which is athletic and rangy. It's the range and size of Klitschko that has caused so many opponents real issues in the past with his busy and heavy jab controlling the range and pace of a fight. Not only is Klitschko awkward due to his reach but also his unorthodox style which sees him throwing punches from unusual angles whilst avoid shots with upper body movements.
Charr is the clear under-dog (priced as high as 24/1 by one Sportsbook) and with good reason. Not only is he taking a massive step up to face Klitschko but he has shown nothing that Klitschko will fear. He's not shown to be capable of doing anything outstanding and he's looked to just be very average in an era of poor Heavyweight challengers. For Charr to win he would quite frankly need a miracle.
For Klitschko (best priced at 1/33) this looks like a routine title defense against a poor challenger. In fact without being facetious I honestly feel Klitschko could win this with an arm tied behind his back. Expect to see the Ukrainian's jab breaking not only the defense of the challenger (with an alarming regularity) but also his will before Charr gets stopped in the latter half of the bout (if he makes it that far). Don't be surprised however to see Charr starting very brightly....until he gets hit and goes progressively into his shell before taking a beating and wilting.
Prediction: Klitschko by T/KO 8 (priced at around 9/1)
The challenger, significantly the younger man at "just" 27 years old, is widely seen to be a sacrificial lamb as the 41 year old Vitali looks to top off his long and illustrious career with yet another win, however does the man known as "The Diamond Boy" have a chance of a giant upset as age catches up with the champion?
Born in Syria though now based in Germany Charr has been quietly making his name since turning professional in 2005. Though without any spectacular wins to date he has been scoring what could be described "decent" wins over the likes of Gbenga Oloukun (at the time 16-0, 10), Owen Beck (a former world title challenger), Danny Williams (another former title challenger) and Taras Bidenko (who gave the gigantic Nikolay Valuev a competitive bout). Though admittedly the likes of Williams and Beck were several years removed from their best.
Although Charr is unbeaten he hasn't had been fighting against any fellow contenders instead picking off fighters who are either journeymen or noticeably beyond their best years. One of those journeymen, American Zack Page, gave Charr all he could handle at the end of 2010 and Charr should feel fortunate to have come away from that bout with a majority decision as he was pushed close to his first professional loss. Whilst the stoppage of British veteran Danny Williams was questionable at best.
At around 6'3" Charr will be dwarfed in the ring and at around 240-250lbs he's not a fighter in great shape often looking rather doughy. His work rate is far from spectacular and his defense is sloppy at best with a lot of his own attacking work looking more like slaps than real punches however he's a fighter who appears to be confident having already said he will "destroy" Vitali Klitschko and David Haye. In fact Charr has to take credit for having serious balls having walked up to David Haye and challenged him at the press conference after Haye had defeated Dereck Chisora. Testicular fortitude aside Charr appears to have little else going for him.
At 41 years old Vitali Klitschko is significantly older than his challenger and with 46 professional bouts on his record he also has much more experience. However this experience has come at a price and through his illustrious career he has picked up various injuries including a torn rotator cuff, torn ligaments and a badly damaged knee (which forced an early retirement from the sport in 2005 before making a comeback several years later).
Klitschko's professional career started way back in 1996 and has seen him becoming a 3-time champion at Heavyweight having held the WBO title (1999-2000) and the WBC title (2004-2005, 2008-) and scoring notable victories over Herbie Hide, Larry Donald, Corrie Sanders, Samuel Peter, Juan Carlos Gomez, Shannon Briggs, Odlanier Solis, Chris Arreola, T omasz Adamek and most recently Dereck Chisora. However he has had set backs including not only his short lived retirement but also losses to Chris Byrd (due to the aforementioned torn rotator cuff) and Lennox Lewis (due to serious cuts). As well as the set backs he hasn't really been accepted by certain quarters of the boxing community who have failed to accept him as a high quality operator in the ring.
Standing at a lofty 6'7" and coming in to the ring in the region of 240-250 Klitschko has an excellent build which is athletic and rangy. It's the range and size of Klitschko that has caused so many opponents real issues in the past with his busy and heavy jab controlling the range and pace of a fight. Not only is Klitschko awkward due to his reach but also his unorthodox style which sees him throwing punches from unusual angles whilst avoid shots with upper body movements.
Charr is the clear under-dog (priced as high as 24/1 by one Sportsbook) and with good reason. Not only is he taking a massive step up to face Klitschko but he has shown nothing that Klitschko will fear. He's not shown to be capable of doing anything outstanding and he's looked to just be very average in an era of poor Heavyweight challengers. For Charr to win he would quite frankly need a miracle.
For Klitschko (best priced at 1/33) this looks like a routine title defense against a poor challenger. In fact without being facetious I honestly feel Klitschko could win this with an arm tied behind his back. Expect to see the Ukrainian's jab breaking not only the defense of the challenger (with an alarming regularity) but also his will before Charr gets stopped in the latter half of the bout (if he makes it that far). Don't be surprised however to see Charr starting very brightly....until he gets hit and goes progressively into his shell before taking a beating and wilting.
Prediction: Klitschko by T/KO 8 (priced at around 9/1)
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