estrada povetkin preview

ESTRADA POVETKIN PREVIEW
By Michael Parente
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The walls of the Big Six Boxing Academy are covered with photos of Alexander Povetkin.
A few hang on ring posts in various corners of the gym. There’s even one on the full-length mirror facing the doorway.
Everywhere he turns, Jason Estrada is reminded of what – and, more importantly, who – he’ll face when he travels to Germany to square off against Povetkin on April 4.
“I’m so ready to fight,” Estrada said. “I’m ready to smash this guy and get it over with.”
Call it motivation by memorization. Estrada’s father and trainer, Dr. Roland Estrada, purposely scattered images of Povetkin throughout the gym in an attempt to agitate his son to the point where Jason’s first real-life glimpse of Povetkin next month might trigger a right hook to the Russian’s jaw. Dr. Estrada even plays videos of Povetkin’s fights while his son spars.
“We just don’t stop talking about Povetkin,” Dr. Estrada said. “Jason hates his guts.”
The rage and aggravation building inside Estrada (15-1, 3 KOs) now is merely a precursor to what Povetkin will face on April 4 when the 6-foot-2 Russian puts his future on the line in a 10-round heavyweight showdown against Classic Entertainment & Sports’ most decorated prospect.
Povetkin (16-0, 12 KOs) – ranked No. 1 in the International Boxing Federation – pulled out of a scheduled fight against heavyweight champion Wladimir Kltischko in December due to a foot injury. A rematch has been scheduled for September, but Povetkin must first get past Estrada, who – in arguably the toughest test of his career – is fighting for a chance to crack the Top 10 in the world heavyweight rankings.
“You have a lot of people saying this is a tune-up fight or whatever. Good. I like that,” Estrada said. “Keep thinking it’s a tune-up fight and he’s going to get a big surprise.
“He’s going to be an April fool.”
While this is an equally-important fight for Estrada, the pressure’s on Povetkin to keep his perfect record intact in order to secure his long-awaited showdown against Klitschko. A win by Estrada would disrupt the order in the heavyweight division and possibly earn the former U.S. Olympian a title shot in the near future.
“Honestly, I think people are making it out to be this big fight because of him, but I don’t think it’s that big of a fight for me because I don’t think he’s that good,” Estrada said. “I’ve watched him and he doesn’t have anything special to offer, but he’s been that person who’s been babied his whole professional career.
“He hasn’t fought anybody besides his last three or four fights. He fought Eddie Chambers, which I thought he lost the fight. If it had been in the United States, he would’ve lost. He fought Taurus Sykes, who was terrible. And he fought Larry Donald, who was old as hell. And he fought Chris Byrd, who was old as hell and it looked like he was sick. Chris Byrd in his day would’ve killed this guy, but when your time comes your time comes.”
Povetkin and Estrada have been waiting to square off since their days as amateurs. The two were supposed to face one another in the 2003 World Championships, but Estrada instead competed in the Pan-Am Games as the No. 1 ranked super heavyweight and captured the gold medal in his Olympic qualifier. Povetkin subsequently took home the gold at the World Championships.
Team Russia pulled out of a dual meet against the United States later that year, spoiling another shot a Povetkin-Estrada showdown. Several months later, Estrada suffered a foot injury that affected his training for the ’04 Olympics, resulting in an early exit from competition while Povetkin cruised to the gold medal.
Nothing can stand in the way now as the two heavyweight prospects will finally face off in what is being billed as a major test for Estrada and a major risk for Povetkin.
“If you don’t fight Povetkin now it may be two or three years before we get in that position to fight a No. 1 contender,” Dr. Estrada said. “This is not something you turn down. You just can’t. No matter what they offered as far as the money or what they offered as far as the venues, this was a fight we had to take.
“What surprises me is that [Povetkin’s] promoters took the fight knowing what’s at stake.”
The pressure hasn’t fazed Estrada, who goes about his business as if this were just another fight in his backyard at Twin River. Win or lose, facing Povetkin could take Estrada’s career to the next level. A victory yields obvious results, but even a close loss via a controversial decision – “Hopefully, we’ll keep that from happening by not going 10 rounds,” Dr. Estrada said – will help Estrada’s reputation among the sport’s elite sanctioning bodies, such as the WBC (World Boxing Council), WBA (World Boxing Association) or IBF.
“Jason doesn’t let this kind of stuff bother him anyway,” added Dr. Estrada, “but I think Jason’s really going in there with a mentality that this guy can’t make it 10 rounds.
“With this guy, you not only want to box him you want to cut him and hurt him – more than just box him because we’re not fighting at Twin River. Really, I think Povetkin’s mindset – not to speak for him – is, ‘Let me go 10 rounds and I’ll win the fight. My people have my back.’ I think he thinks like that because he really doesn’t go after people to knock them out. I think he thinks if he lasts 10 rounds he wins the fight regardless.”
Even with 12 knockouts on his resume, Povetkin is considered more of a finesse fighter with superior technique than a power-puncher – similar to Estrada, who has only three knockouts in 16 fights. The quality of opponents for both fighters helps fuel that perception. Estrada notes that Povetkin fights “dead men” while his opponents have a combined record of 250-86-10.
“He basically is one of those guys whose whole mindset is just to win and hopefully win the decision,” Estrada said. “He doesn’t have a killer instinct to go out there and try to knock people out. He just tries to win because most of his fights are in Germany or on his side of the map.
“To me, that’s going to be the big difference. What’s he going to do when somebody’s actually aggressive and wants to go at him? I’m going to box, of course, because that’s my first nature, but by no means is this going to be a pretty fight for him. I’m not trying to look cute in there. It’s all business. I’m trying to hurt him.”
To avoid controversy, Estrada plans on taking the decision out of the judges’ hands by finishing the fight within 10 rounds. Stamina might be an issue since Povetkin has gone the distance just four times in his professional career, including a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Chambers in January of 2008.
“At the end of every round, he’s half dead and they’re coaching him in the corner trying to keep him awake,” Estrada said of Povetkin. “That’s what I see. That’s a bad sign.
“What’s he going to do when I’m in the corner with my dad pushing my father out of the way and looking at him in his corner or I’m getting up in the corner jumping around and it’s the seventh round? What’s that going to do to him mentally when he lands a good shot and I look at him and laugh? I don’t think he’s prepared for that.”
Facing the element of the unknown, Povetkin is rolling the dice by relying on his experience to carry him past Estrada while his ambitious opponent has more than enough incentive to succeed thanks in large part to his father’s clever sources of motivation.
Considered by many to be nothing more than a “tune-up” in Povetkin’s quest for a world title, Estrada plans on playing a much less subtle number on his opponent come April 4.
“I think he’s looking past Jason,” Dr. Estrada said. “If you look on paper you say, ‘Well, Jason’s fought some people, but he doesn’t really knock anybody out, so I just have to put pressure on him and take him out.’ A lot of guys think that way, but once they get in the ring it’s, ‘What was that?’
“With Jason, you get hit and you never saw his hand move. You swore it was the referee that hit you.”

 

matt is back in the gym and no i dont think he will fight hide that fight was for garbage money i will let ya know who he has lined up as soon as i find out. as for the estrada fight im sure it will be on j t v or sop i have no idea i will be looking around for it and i will let u know if i find one

 

hes on his way out there now he left today he should be fine with the time change he said hes going to stay on est while out the so it will be like fighting at 2:30pm

 

i really hope he does well and im not just saying that cause im cool with him i just really wanna see the us have the stage for a bit from now on i will back all americans in the hw div we need the hw div to change in our favor