The way i see it, Povetkin signed a fight with a rematch clause. He won the fight and will get paid millions to have the rematch. I honestly don't have a problem. I get the argument about it holding a division up, but the reality is this boxing, not UFC. The best don't really fight the best, they fight the best business choice. So for me it doesn't hold the division up because the alternate would almost always be a mismatch, because that's the nature of boxing these days. If matchmaking was like the UFC I'd fully agree with you. But in a sport where there's 3 people claiming to be HW champion right now (Fury, AJ and Bryan) where all those guys are negotiating their next fight against someone who isn't Povetkin, the only better opponent would be Wilder, and he's made it clear he'll never fight Povetkin due to the drugs test. So the alternate is Povetkin fights someone worse than Whyte in a stay busy fight.
That’s irrelevant dude, this isn’t about Povetkin, it’s about the double standards of behaviour in boxing. You are justifying ****ing over deserving fighters because YOU like a particular fight. That’s exactly why boxing is in the mess it’s in
I'm not arguing that, more the fact that it's what's EXPECTED now. Plus, I'm a fan, not a fighter - I don't really care about the financial side of things, or what the fighters agree to re rematch clauses, hydration clauses, whatever, I'm speaking from a frustrated fans point of view where I'm seeing fighters pull off the unexpected or the unthinkable, only to be asked to do it again immediately, and this is becoming more and more prevalent By the time the second Povetkin Whyte fight happens (forgive me for going back to the same example, it's just easier for continuity purposes) and the winner is ready to fight again, we're looking at a year since the initial eliminator, then factor in that AJ will probably be fighting fairly shortly after the rematch so then there's a 6 month wait til his next fight , so we're looking 18 months from the eliminator til the fight actually happens and that's a minimum, assuming that AJ and Fury don't fight and decide to rematch. Povetkin was 40 in the first fight, he'll be close to 41 for the second and pushing 42 for his title shot (if he wins the rematch) If the initial fight hadn't been billed as an eliminator ,I wouldn't have such an issue with it, but for me an eliminator means an eliminator. If Povetkin decided to take on a nobody in the meantime and lost to that guy, that guy should get the shot, otherwise the top end of the division is just going to get stale because every time someone pulls off an upset, they will have the rematch to clear it up which wastes a year of the fighters career and the fans time, and then the top of the division ends up looking the same as it did before
Very good points mate, honestly, but unfortunately in this situation we're talking heavyweights where the depth of the division is pretty poor to be honest. Say it was another division with a competitive top 10 instead of a top 5, there would be other intriguing fights to make in the meantime while waiting for that title shot , but instead we would have to have a needless rematch It just gets so frustrating at times !
Who's being ****ed over? Whyte who gets a shot at avenging a loss or Povetkin who gets paid millions to fight someone he's already knocked out? I do like Povetkin, he made me money against Whyte and I hope he does so again in the rematch.
I'm not bothered about the finances either, I like seeing good fights and for me Povetkin vs Whyte is a good fight, which is why I'm OK with it. Like I said, matchmaking in boxing sucks. These two are top 5 ranked HW guys. If they weren't fighting each other they'd be fighting worse opposition. I'd much rather see Povetkin vs Whyte then Povetkin vs Bryan for example.
It wasn´t an eliminator. Whyte already was the mandatory. And he also held that BS interim belt. But I agree with the sentiment. However, these rematches often make for good fights.
You're right that he was already mandatory but it was also an eliminator , that's how Eddie Hearn billed it , the understanding was that this was the final final FINAL eliminator before a world title shot at AJ, I think Whyte was already locked in as WBC mandatory
This is why I am not bothered by it. Had this been an actual eliminator, I would be fully on board with you. But even in that case, the WBC belt is currently tied up with the proposed Fury-Joshua saga. So what is Povetkin to do? Just sit and wait? **** it, the first Whyte fight was a good one, let them go again! Plus Povetkin is going to be financially rewarded.
I can't say I disagree with any of that, but its the principle of it really, if Joshua and Fury don't fight, povetkin should be the guy in line for the shot. And I agree, he's not supposed to just sit and wait, and the fighters can fight whoever they want to fight but it should be THEIR decision. As I said above, if Whyte had won as was the plan, Hearn wouldn't be saying "noone else is available, I'll put him back in with Povetkin because it was a good fight", he'd say "f*** the rematch, he got KOed , let's move on" I just think it's a bit sleazy from Hearn as the promoter for both guys, you can't sell a fight as an absolute final eliminator and then change your tune when the result doesn't go your way. And I have absolutely no issue seeing these 2 fight again, They're two of my favourite fighters in all of boxing, and I know it's not a perfect example of what I'm trying to get across , but its the principle behind the rematch - ie, it didn't go the way the promoter wanted it to - that bothers me, more than the actual rematch, if that makes sense ?
Why do you keep pretending this is about Povetkin? Your bias is blocking you from seeing what’s actually being discussed
Well the upside is it gurantees another fight between usually 2 well matched and world class fighters. There are so many trash fights including ridiculous mandatories i don't grumble about forced rematches even if they can be a bit unfair on the person who isn't A side.
To be fair that's my bad, I keep going back to the same example when really I should be just talking about the principle of it
