First of all I want to say that I am a fanboy of Povetkin. I love his style and even went to see him against Joshua at Wembley. I think that at his prime he could have defeated any heavyweight in history and that he would have slaughtered Wilder in Moscow. But he's been declining since Price and it's getting worse and worse with every fight since Hughie Fury. He is exhausted after three rounds, all his resistance to punches is gone ... And that's normal, he is 41 years old. He was able to beat Whyte in August with a perfect and extremely well-prepared shot. But this time Whyte will be vigilant on the uppercuts and we have seen that he is physically clearly superior to Sasha. I had anticipated Povetkin's victory in the first fight but I think this time he will eat the ground.
"I think that at his prime he could have defeated any heavyweight in history" What's a Prime Povetkin? the one who Wlad jabbed his face off and pushed him over to a wide decision win in 2013? lol
Lewis, the Klitschkos, Fury, Joshua ... I think 2013-2017 Povetkin can beat them all in a fair fight.
We will have to agree to disagree here Povetkin fought AJ in 2018 so not really far off 2017 Lewis bullies him im afraid But yeah the Whyte fight you raise good concerns
He was already 39 years old against AJ and yet he gave him a very complicated fight. I think a year or two younger he probably knocked him out.
Watching Wlad get manhandled in the clinch and up close by AJ and Fury was justice. Big Stiff Idiot Useless dosser. Floyd, Ward, Ali etc all fighting men about the same size or bigger than them clinching is one thing...but Wlad who is much bigger is ergh!
There's nothing much to add to your post, tbh. It's obvious that povetkin is on his way down, and that today he's a worse fighter than he was yesterday, and that tomorrow he will be a worse fighter than he's today. That's unavoidable, and every fighter will have to go through that, since father Time forgives noone. I will miss him when he retires. I'm a fan too. I really enjoy watching him fighting.
Povetkin will be ripe for the pickings after he stops Whyte a second time. Deontay needs a route back to the title, if Fury refuses the Alabama prince his rematch. The bomb squad will be closely monitoring the Russian's performance in his next fight.
Considering that he’s never held a real world title in an era where the talent in the heavyweight division is extremely weak, I wouldn’t say that he’s anything special in a historical sense. He’s a good fighter, but if his pro career had begun 15 years earlier, you’d have never heard of him. The only title he’s ever held was a so-called “regular” WBA title after Wlad was elevated to “Super Champion” by the organization. When he actually fought Wlad for the real title, he lost by 119–104(!) on all three cards. How in the hell do you lose a 12-round fight by 15 points? When you look at his best wins, they came over a 39 year-old Hasim Rahman, two guys who were heavyweights in name only (Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers), and Ruslan Chagaev. Oh, and he beat Fury too…oops, that was Tyson’s cousin Hughie. And On boxrec he is listed 20th on the all time heavyweight list.....how? I don't know. But one thing for sure , this is extremly undeserved, wich makes him the most overrated thing god has ever created.