Prime Vitali ducked not only Povetkin but also Eddie Chambers, Deontay Wilder, Tyson Fury, Evander Holyfield and Ruslan Chagaev. The only thing Vitali would do nowadays is continue ducking Povetkin.
Holy chit. Look how many clowns who dksab voted for Vitaliatsch If Vitali came back now , he couldn't beat Tackam , let alone Povetkin. A much better Vitali looked clunky , stiff, slow and awkward against Charr. An even better version of Vitali had a very hard night against Chisora. But he can just turn up now riddled in cracks and cob webs and beat Povetkin ?? I wish that poll was public to expose these people
If Vitali announced today he was coming back and fighting Povetkin in 10 weeks, I would be picking Povetkin to defeat him. I felt Vitali's run as elite and nigh unbeatable was coming to an end. He called it quits at the right time (despite an awful opponent to retire after TKO'ing, but still good timing).
He would never beat Povetkin now. Not a chance. Too old, too static, I don't believe that he would be able to masterfully control distance as he did before ... his chin would keep him in it for a while until hard-hitting Povetkin ground him out. Vitali in his prime would have given Povetkin a shellacking imo, though.