Alexander Povetkin- The Making of Sasha

Alexander Povetkin- The Making of Sasha

By Michael Richards 

When the inevitable happened and Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin was announced, no one batted an eyelid, seen as it has been boxing’s worst kept secret for the last few weeks. Here we take a look at Povetkin’s rise through the heavyweight division and what AJ can expect come fight night.

Povetkin like all boxers, pitted his wits against relative novices or boxers with losing records early on in his career, blowing most away in 4, 6 and 8 round bouts, mainly held on German soil. He built himself up to fighting former world level operators in Larry Donald and Chris Byrd in fights 13 and 14 respectively, winning the latter via an 11th round KO. It was these two fights that elevated Povetkin into the higher echelons of the heavyweight division, with people beginning to take notice. The win against former world champion Byrd especially caught the eye, with the fight fought at a frantic pace early, with Povetkin keen to stamp his authority of that fight, with the towel eventually coming in during Round 11.

After coming through Eddie Chambers, Povetkin was lined up to fight Wladimir Klitschko for his IBF belt. Povetkin withdrew through injury, with the fight not taking place, until they met further down the line in 2013, which was to be Povetkin’s one and only defeat to date.

It’s fair to say he has mixed it at a good level over the years, winning the WBA Regular title against Ruslan Chagaev and defending a couple of fights later against Cruiserweight World Champion Marco Huck. It was this fight that brought into question if Povetkin could really mix it with the bigger names in the sport, with many ringside scoring Huck the winner. Regardless, he got the victory and ticked over against lesser opponents in Hasim Rahman and Andrzej Wawrzyk, before finally meeting Wladimir Klitschko, in which he was dropped multiple times, in a one-sided defeat.

Some may look at his defeat by Wladimir Klitschko in 2013, as the fight that has defined his career. As disappointing as he was during the 12 Rounds, his defining fight for me was against Carlos Takam in October 2014. Anthony Joshua could testify how difficult it is to break Takam down. Povetkin not only dropped Takam twice, but knocked him out cold in Round 10, a testament to the power he possesses. Takam had neutralised Povetkin early in that fight, but Povetkin was astute enough to make adjustments and stop a man, who at times seems immoveable.

Since that fight Povetkin has floated around the division fighting top 15 competitors, with his most recent outing against David Price evidence that he still possesses power and can hurt opponents, but also raised a few doubts about himself, after being hurt badly by the giant Liverpool man. He is still a come forward fighter, but would be foolish to trade early on with Joshua.

Can he cause AJ trouble? Potentially is the answer. However, my fear is age may have caught up with him and when he does open up, he runs the risk of being tagged by a big Joshua right hand. Either way, the fight brings its own level of intrigue and one AJ could do without, with Wilder waiting in the wings (hopefully).