Doughy Povetkin in his prime barely got past Marco Huck. He started juicing right after that. The version of Povetkin who Huck faced loses to Ortiz all day long.
I think Povetkin probably takes a decision in a good, close fight. He's starting to get pretty overated around here though, his best wins are Chagaev, Takam and Whyte, he's not just going to walk through Ortiz who was better than anyone Pov beat.
I wouldn't say way better. It's a good fight. Povetkin should be favored, but no one would be shocked if Ortiz pulled it off.
He's got a sweet 1981 Renault 5 Turbo on the lot with new seat covers on it. I know it's a turbo because somebody painted 'turbo' on the side of the car.
Povetkin was a step above IMO. And Ortiz being a plodder walking to Povetkin (who was a hitter), that's a kinda dumb strategy. He got clipped twice by Wilder, of course he's gonna clipped by a more accurate hitter.
Takam and Povetkin were even on the Russian cards after 8 rounds. An absolute prime, juiced up Povetkin in a back and forth war with a high level gatekeeper/sparring partner type who blatantly ducked Ortiz. Takam-conqueror Chisora has also admitted that he has no interest in fighting Ortiz because it's a "hard night at the office". At least he's honest. Povetkin's best win is Whyte in a life and death; the same Whyte who literally couldn't lay a meaningful glove on Fury's head over 6 rounds before getting one-shotted. Povetkin was miles removed from the top level and has done nothing in his career to place himself above Ortiz with any confidence. The fact that Povetkin's team admitted to swerving Ortiz (again, at least they're honest) doesn't help matters either.
I think very likely Pov - he'd have denied Wilder the time and distance to wind up a full power bomb. Personally, I think the fact that Wilder ran a mile from Pov is instructive. When it comes to Pov, he didn't want to fight a supposed drugs cheat (Povetkin having popped for something that was a about as performance enhancing as a can of RedBull)... But then when it comes to Ortiz, he's more than happy to fight a guy who's failed a drugs test. It's obviously not about principle - to me it looks much more like a convenient excuse to duck a dangerous fighter with a decent resume whilst willing to fight a much slower, more bomb-prone guy who inexplicably has a reputation on a similar level despite having achieved far less... Why step up when it's the much more dangerous bloke when you can bide your time and get just as much credit for beating a lesser fighter who'd suit you better? Or perhaps that's too cynical?