I hope so too. Then Jovo Pudar could fight Rahman for the vacant title, and the winner fights Wlad. It will be like the Peter fight all over again, except this time Wlad gets stopped before the final bell.
As a huge fan i can not disagree. If Povetkin does not fight Vlad after Rahman, i think i"m done being a fan.
Most people think he lost to that CW champion. And the constant Wladimir ducks? OMFG............ Povetkin = 24-carat *******.
It was easy to like Povetkin when he started out his career on a hot streak. Beating guys like Chambers, Byrd, Donald, and Ahunanya in his first 15 fights was pretty impressive. He went through that whole Teddy Atlas period, injuries, and fighting guys like Oruh, Mora, and Firtha one after the other and it became hard to keep pulling for him. Then he won the belt from, a still solid, Chagaev and I thought maybe we'll get to see the old Povetkin again. Since winning the belt it seems he's happy with stepping his level of competition down again. Boswell, Huck(I thought Povetkin deserved the win in that one), and now Rahman is three staight title defenses against 3 guys who may not have even been in the top 20. There's rumors he could be facing Pudar in his next fight and that would simply continue his weak title run. There has been talk that he might actually face Wlad in the spring and if that happens then a lot of these wasted years could be forgiven. If he fights Wlad then I don't see a problem with him facing Pudar between Rahman and then. Activity is always a good thing and it would give him more time to work with Tsyzu as his trainer. Rahman, Pudar, then Wlad is great but if its Rahman, Pudar, and more guys like that then he might as well disappear.