Yeah he's definitely fading more and more out of view of the casual fans around the rest of the world which is a shame considering you can make a very valid argument for him being the #2 in the "blue riband" division (an argument that I often make myself ahead of the likes of Wilder, Ortiz, Parker). But if two extremely winnable fights against Rudenko and Hammer is all it takes to get back into a mandatory position then I think he's doing a pretty good job of rebuilding his career after the Wilder fiasco and I expect he'll get a big name title shot by the end of 2018. Like I said, while Hammer may be a rather underwhelming opponent for somebody of Povetkin's calibre he is effectively just a very well placed career stepping stone. Besides, I doubt Sasha cares too much about this period of publicity-stagnation, if he has billionaire Ryabinsky's backing and promotion he must be a pretty good draw in Russia so I assume he's still getting paid handsomely. Good read BTW.
Price beat Price,he had the fight won.Hammer is really poor from what i see as far as putting him near the top 10.Briggs can punch just ask miller his main sparring partner..those around him hios entire career are stating hes hitting harder now whic doesnt hold well for anyone on hammers level. Briggs has much better ability than Hammer,and beats anyone Hammer did,including Hammer. Hammer literally does nothing that stands out hes average all around the board. Once again age will make alot of ppl wrong on this forum if they fight. Take a look at the guy you are telling me is better than Briggs...this is him...i dont see it. Its really mysterious ppl ragging on me bc i tell it like is with Hammer who for some is elite guy??In what world? not this one lol And no offense to the fighters but they look like they just both woke up and started sparring,these guys are NOT that good...their just not. This content is protected
So Parker said he wanted over $4M to fight Povetkin in Russia, but WOB weren't willing to pay that much: This content is protected Obviously $4M is a lot but Parker can get that or more vs Joshua.
You can go by rankings all you like ,no one actually looking at any Hammer fight has him no where near top 10 material. sure you can pencil him in at number 2 with the WBO,but thats laughable. If he fights Briggs like this which is cover up and survive enough to land something( like he always does) he will get knocked out inside 5 rnds against Briggs.....his crushing body punches with lean on ropes Hammer equals disaster. This guy in the ring is not beating Briggs..either of them! This content is protected
Is Ortiz still WBA mando? Is Joshua going to have to fight him now Wilder launched his Stiverne shaped life raft?
It could be less, who else is Joshua going to fight in the meantime? He beats Pulev, then who? There's the Wilder fight at some point, but no guarantee it happens first. Ortiz is around, but who knows what happens there. Tyson Fury is retired, no point in fighting Povetkin, Bellew won't fight him, Whyte rematch could happen but it's not a big $$ fight. The HW division is pretty thin to be honest, if Joshua is as good as most think he is it won't take him long to mow through the division.
No, Ortiz gave up his mando position for the Wilder fight. However, the WBA is considering reinstating him as Joshua's mandatory.
1. Ortiz 2. Haye if he should win ???? 3. Wilder 4. Parker (2019) with possible other opponent thrown anywhere in the list here. 5. Whyte if he should keep winning and relevant. Definatley a big money fight in the U.K Parker is two years off from this fight . my guess is im going to pretty close on this.
don't blame him.. I wouldn't fight in Russia for under 4mil either. lol... most corrupt country for boxing lol.
Seems like Povetkin's people are trying to get him that WBO mandatory position, although apparently WBA ranks him highly too. Well, he wasted so much time going for that WBC belt (at first WBC allowing Wilder 2 mandatories, then the (fabricated or not) drug situation, then Povetkin/Stiverne) that it's unknown where his abilities are right now. Looks like the quickest way to a title shot now seems Povetkin/Hammer and then WBO giving mandatory status to the winner.
"For us it's going to the second event with Povetkin. The tournament will be held at the Palace of game and sports, which can accommodate five thousand spectators. In terms of the show being sold-out, I think there won't be any problems at all. As for the opponent, we are considering Hammer. We have to sign the contracts, I think we will close it all off by the end of next week and officially announce it," Titov said to Vasily Konov.