How would have Sasha faired against some of the other Ex-Soviet title holders like: Maskaev, Valuev, Liakhovich and Ibragimov?
Povetkin vs the better schooled Ibragimov of the last 4 fights is a toss up. Slight edge going to Ibragimov. Sultan retired way too soon. Dude was a really solid fighter. The early more crude version of Sultan would lose a UD to Povetkin imo. I think Povetkin beats the other three pretty handily.
Ibragimov had some fast hands. I always thought he would give Povetkin some problems. I kinda like this KO Sawwwey This content is protected Lol Got embarrassed worse than Chris The Nightmare did against Vitali
He would clearly UD Valuev and he would beat Liakhovic pretty handily. The fight with Maskaev would be back and forth until Oleg's chin fails him and I feel the Ibragimov fight would be a tight one, could go either way.
Yeah Ibragimov was a solid technician and I 100% agree he packed it in to soon. Just too small to make a real impact at elite level I think. Could see that fight being a chess match early on with them both starting to open up later on. Definitely the closest fight out the lot.
POV by brutal KO against Liakhovich. The Maskaev fight is intriguing because big O could bang and had decent skills. Shame his whiskers weren't as good.
“B.. Bu.. But 0.00000001 Melosteronium doe!” Povetkin won an Olympic Gold and was undefeated until he met up with Wlad who was still at his best. YDKSAB
Povetkin didn't fight anyone for the Gold medal. The fighter was injured in the semifinals and didn't show up for the final. Ibragimov, on the other hand, fought Felix Savon for the gold medal and lost a decision. If Felix Savon didn't show up for the final, Ibragimov would've won a gold just like Povetkin did. It's a lot easier to win Gold if your opponent doesn't show up rather than having to face an all-time great. (And if Povetkin had to fight Savon, Alexander may not have a gold, either).
Head-to-head, I don't know if Oleg Maskaev beats Alexander Zolkin. Maskaev seemed to have Hasim Rahman's number, but he wasn't so great against anyone else. Oleg was kind of chinny. Zolkin got beat up by Henry Akinwande. But otherwise, he was pretty solid.
Povetkin/Ibragimov 50-50 fight Povetkin KOs Maskaev mid rounds Povetkin beats Valuev by wide UD Povetkin stops Lyakhovich in 9 Loses to Vitali wide UD Beats Chagaev in a competitive fight (as it really happened)
interesting question topic, never really thought about this Maskaev was a good fighter with a hard punch but lacked good head movement and was susceptible to being knocked out. Povetkin to me can be a sucker for the right hand but Maskaev's hand speed was anything terrific. Favor Povetkin after 6 rounds Valuev was a fighter who I liked watching but in all honesty outside of being big and having a jab his skillset was very limited. I thought he lost to Ruiz. Povetkin can outbox Valuev, now I havent seen him put on a Chagaev like performance he usually just goes in straight ahead but I think he is quick enough to pick off Valuev and decision him Liakhovich was great vs Brewster as he showed heart and courage along with some good punching. at that time he was seen as a real threat to klitschko by some. then he was knocked out while ahead but didnt look particularly good vs Briggs and then disappeared. I wonder how much the retina effected Brewster vs Liahovich. I actually think Brewster vs Povetkin is a really good fight and really very 50/50...that said I feel like this goes a very competitive 12 and could go either way. Ibragimov really only lost to Wlad and should have lost to Austin but the knockdown got missed but they were very tall fighters. Ibragimov to me might have been vulnerable considering he was dropped twice vs Austin but we cant no for sure, he did go 12 with wlad but didnt take many chances. i could see ibragimov going 12 playing it very safe and winning or losing a boring fight might be giving povetkin too much credit but maskaev was always vulnerable, liahovich was really only great one night, valuev has shown plenty of flaws, and ibragimov retired before we saw him in more high profile fights
legit analysis there. Oh man the Brewster match up would have been a tear up! A fit on his game Lamon Brewster had decent hand speed and ridiculous power in that left hook not to mention grade A chin and balls. Still I think Povetkin would wear him down and could potentially force a stoppage late on.
