Alexander Povetkin vs. Christian Hammer RBR

Who has Povetkin beat that's more accomplished than Wilder? I'll wait.

 

Huck? Is this a joke? Or are you using his achievements at cruiser to justify the fact that Povetkin struggled badly with him? Look. If you want to say you believe all those guys are better than Stiverne (minus Huck), I don't have a major issue with that. I think Stiverne is at least better than a few of those guys, if not more accomplished.

But that doesn't change the fact that Povetkin hasn't accomplished much of anything over 10 years. And none of those guys are A-level heavyweights.

I'm not going to sit here and try to hype up Wilder, because I don't think Wilder is especially good. I think a fight between Wilder and Povetkin is a 50-50 proposition between two rather mediocre talents as far as the top level goes.

But Wilder is the more accomplished fighter at this point in time, based on the fact that he has held a legitimate major world championship, and Wilder defended that title 6 times since winning it in January 2015. Povetkin has 7 consecutive wins since being dominated by Wladimir back in 2013.

If you want to claim that Povetkin has beaten a better string of opponents since that time, I'm fine with that. But at the same time, Wilder is clearly the more accomplished over that stretch, and neither guy has an especially impressive win between them.

But this isn't his fault, is it? When champions retire, two guys usually fight for the vacant strap. Stiverne was the one who got the crack, and at the time, most people felt Arreola would beat him as I recall.

The bottom line for me - Povetkin's hype and reputation far exceed his actual accomplishments. Over the last 10 years, I've always believed Povetkin has been overrated. And here we are, 10 years later, and he doesn't have a single victory on his ledger that's convinced me otherwise. And the one legitimate title shot he received, he looked completely out of his league in a one-sided mismatch.

 

In your opinion, what's Povetkin's crowning achievement? Is it simply the fact that he's been a perennial contender?

 

No, you're the one missing the point. And I never said Povetkin was a "scrub". I merely said he's grossly overrated - which he is. Clearly.

 

Gotchya, IB. I know we've debated Povetkin a few times over the years, and you've always rated him far higher than I have. And you're not alone. A lot of fans whose opinions I have a great deal of respect for (including @UnleashtheFURY ) feel the same way you do, so perhaps I have blinders on when it comes to him. But I can honestly say, I've never been particularly impressed.

That said, I'd love to see him get a crack at one of the current champions, as I'd like to see if he can step up and put up the type of performance many believe he is capable of.