Povetkin to be honest. I am one of Sanders's biggest fans here. But the truth is his defense was leaky and he was rarely in shape. Look at Sanders vs Rahman. This was supposed to be one of the biggest fights of Sanders's career. Yet he ran out of gas after 5-6 rounds. I am sure Sanders did have fights where he showed decent endurance. The problem is that he showed up in poor shape for the biggest fights of his career- namely vs Rahman and Vitali. Hence in any hypothetical match ups, we have to take Sanders's weak stamina into account. We can't magically give him good endurance. Yes, a properly trained, motivated and fit Sanders would likely beat Povetkin. But how many times in his career did he show up in great shape vs a quality opponent? We can't give fighters we like traits that they rarely or never displayed. Sanders does have a decent shot at knocking Povetkin out in the first 4-5 rounds. Once it goes past that, Povetkin wears him down and stops him late.
He'd had a knee injury for the Rahman fight which precluded him doing roadwork or much sparring. His shape for the Vitali fight was woeful, agreed, but he WAS like 38 years old. If we do these hypotheticals we typically take best versions, and at his best Sanders did not have stamina problems. I mean, I guess I could point to Huck version of Povetkin as an example of his poor conditioning and go with that one That all said, Povetkin is a great fighter and no easy outing for anybody. Sasha is very well rounded, with a wide arsenal of punches, good infighting ability and a good chin. If he can handle Sanders' power - and that may be a big if - he would seek to fight him in a phonebooth and exchange there. You are correct that Povetkin has better defence, particularly head movement, than Sanders. However what is also true is that despite Sanders' rather upright stance, he was usually able to keep the fight at the distance he liked and used his length, speed and accuracy to land first. I like both these all-action fighters. Povetkin feels more 'complete' to me. Sanders is kind of a one trick pony in that he liked to let the other guy lead and then nail the dude with his lightning bolt straight left. However, he often did this because it was so effective for him. And once he had his man hurt he threw caution to the wind and threw everything into getting him out of there. That's often where he got hit himself. Their common opponent is Wlad and if we use him as a measuring stick, Sanders comes out on top. Old Sanders beat a young Wlad. However, there's also the styles matchup to consider, where Wlad's style is poison to Povetkin. Sanders style is very unusual and Wlad simply couldn't cope with it, and his speed. I'm going to go on a limb and say that Sanders' straighter, faster and more accurate punches will do the job over Povetkin's more varied inside attack. Povetkin got tagged a lot by Wlad when trying to close the distance, and Sanders is a faster puncher than Klitschko. Though to be honest if either of these guys beat the other it shouldn't be a surprise.
No one ever decisioned Sanders. Corrie has a huge range advantage both in reach and in much faster, more nimble feet. For as long as he stayed fresh he would be dictating distance and throwing hurt at Sasha. Great fight but distinct skillsets.
Fun fight! One thing is for damn sure… there is no way in hell that this one would be a Snoozer! lol It would probably last no more than 4 rounds with the amount of power and offense that would be fired off from round one onwards. I think the very best version of The Sniper was the Wladimir fight. He was zoned in and ready for that one while also being completely calm. He actually even went to a sports psychologist for that one so he wanted to go out the best version of himself in case that one was indeed his last fight. I envision Alexander getting dropped early with a laser beam straight left while doing his usual lunging in with the left hook. Povetkin was a warrior so he’d get up, fight back valiantly while having his moments as well. But with power like Sanders, there’s only so much of that you can do and stay conscious. Lol I think Corrie stops him with a final flurry in the corner somewhere in round four or five. Sanders might have to get up off the deck in this one too. Kinda like the Rahman fight but this time Corrie would be in better shape and have the gas tank to keep up that vicious offense.
That's because he was a character from the Sopranos called Big P*ssy and he typically got knocked out by the likes of Nate Tubbs
It's heavyweight fighting. It happens. But at this point I've lost count of how many opponents have named Corrie as the hardest puncher they ever faced.
Sanders sometimes did undertrain especially in his later career. In the Rahman case, it is a fact that his knee had problems.
Sanders was an avoided fighter. Way too much risk, for most guys to get into the ring with. Look how he dominated Botha 3 times in the amateurs and yet Botha found his way into the ring with everyone, despite always losing and Sanders did not. He has real chance early in the fight to overwhelm Povetkin but the longer the fight goes - Alexander’s chances improve. If it goes beyond 5 I think Povetkin wins. He was just a well rounded, technically sound fighter that didn’t give too many openings. However Sander’s speed, southpaw stance and power give him a big edge early on. 60-40 Povetkin imo.
I think this is one of those fights where people think it is not going the distance, but it does. Povetkin does enough to win a UD.
