Povetkin was clueless about what to do against a big guy like Wlad. He didn't know how to attack him. He was also ineffective against AJ, because AJ was physically much more stronger than him.
There's nothing a boxer can do against a wrestler while obeying the boxing rules that apply only for him. But on the other hand, it's what I am saying in general for Povetkin: he never had a plan B. But even if he had such, Clinchko was a rule abuser, never sanctioned for (I can guess why), except for once against Jennings, but it was in US.
The fight took place in Russia too. You would have thought the fight would have been officiated in a more bipartisan manner.
He didnt move up from middle to heavy directly he moved up from light heavy to heavy. And he was talking about it from 1997. It was always there as a discussion. Povetkin is 20 plus pounds away from this discussion in the context of him being in good shape with those 20 plus pounds. He never makes cruiser safely and if he does he looks like Chris Byrd vs Shaun George.
Povetkin vs Briedis is one of the most interesting fights for me, during that time, when Povekvin was fighting Takam, Wach and others.
People saying he couldn’t make 200lb somehow STILL don’t understand how weight cutting works. 219 down to 200 is nothing. Alex Pereira in the UFC comes in at 219 fighting at 185 and doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him at 219.
^This^ Cutting 20lb of water is fairly easy and can be done in a day and can be put back on before the fight again (I have done it). But, it’s not always better to move down, now you don’t have the speed advantages you had in a heavier weight class for an example. btw I know it’s says that Pereira hydrate back to 219 but I’m not sure I believe it. I believe he start his cut from there but it’s pretty much impossible to cut water from 219 to 185 and put it back on, that’s 34lb! 20-25lb is easy after that your body shuts down, if he manages to do that it’s more impressive than being the champ, lol. Pereira is a stud though and I hope beats Stylebender again, I went to their first fight, it was a lot of fun.
We definitely need a weight between Cruiser and Heavy.....200-220lbs, they'd actually be a lot of top contenders. But Bridgerweight isn't the name for it. It needs to be called the Cruvyweight division.
tbh I just referred to 219 cos someone mentioned it earlier. The fight night weights I’ve actually seen for Pereira (and Costa) have been in the 212-214 range. I agree that rehydrating 29lbs has got to be on the very cusp of what’s possible. Pereira by all accounts weighs 230-something out of camp and in decent shape.
One word - longevity. Sasha marked at least one era of heavyweight. It would be good for boxing, heavyweight, and in general if there were more such boxers with so many weeks among the Top 10 HW. And let the observers see his penultimate fight for themselves. All praises to Sasha from my side.
What? Old Povetkin won easily 4 of the 6 rounds. He got caught with a good shot, but refused to take a knee which was a mistake. Povetkin 3 or 4 years younger would have KO'd Joshua.
Did you watch the fight? Povetkin did not win 4 out of 6 and any age Povetkin wouldn’t have lasted any longer than he did.