It's an all out Russian fight. Aleksander Povetkin vs. Nikolai Valuev. Who wins? Please vote on the poll. Thanks.
Thanks for the two that have responded so far. Povetkin and Valuev are the top two Russians at heavyweight, in fact, many consider both of them to be top 10. I'm just surprised that their has been very little response to this thread.
Valuev is a aging, lumbering elephant who's completely befuddled by any opponent that moves and has relied on robberies and his promoter buying him championship titles. He's recently bowed out of making a career high payday and a chance (not really) at a world title again against Vitali Klitschko. He's booed routinely in front of his home crowds in Germany, which Germans don't usually do. Povetkin showed good potential coming up, built a pretty impressive streak of wins against some decent names, but since winning against Chambers in his IBF eliminator, he's been injured and content to fighting soft opposition at home. Even with the pro-experience he has, he still fights like an amateur and has a poor defense. Atlas and Povetkin's plan to stall repeatedly has gotten really tiring and he should lose his ranking position IMO. Losing to Wladimir Klitschko is not such a shameful thing, as long as he gives his best. It's possible to lose and come right back and improve. But he seems content to stagnate and wait for Klitschko to retire or something. I used to be a big fan of Povetkin, not anymore. I'm sure many fans share my sentiment. Neither Valuev or Povetkin are interesting fighters at this point, thats probably the cause of the lack of responses to the thread. I'd say Povetkin wins by MD or SD. He doesn't have the power to seriously bother Valuev, Povetkin would have probably enough movement to avoid the (soft) power shots of Valuev, but I'm sure Valuev would catch him enough with the jab to win some rounds.
