Good fight. Tough call, we know more about Povetkin than we do Ibeabuchi. He had two stand out wins and then his career ended. It’s hard to determine how good he really was, he did look the part. Povetkin was not quite as powerful as Tua but he was more defensively responsible and had more bag of tricks. I could see him winning a decision but I’m only basing that on fact Ike’s career was so short. He’s more of a mystery
Bump. Ibeabuchi could be square on, meaning Povetkin could sneak into range and slip some of them uppercuts through the middle, Povetkin had more tricks up his sleeve, he could feint one way to set up something else, he varied his foot movement, things you didn’t see as much from Ibeabuchi, but Ibeabuchi is stronger and may have more stamina. I see Povetkin setting Ibeabuchi up early on, feinting and stepping in with that lead left hook, countering Ibeabuchi with rights over the top and landing body head combination, as Ibeabuchi is stepping forward, Povetkin could roll and slip the uppercut through the middle, I see him lighting up Ibeabuchi early on, but later on, Ibeabuchi rallies pushing Povetkin against the ropes and Povetkin is looking tired, but he sees it through to steal a competitive decision. Povetkin is just more proven, this is a very close fight.
Ibeabuchi gets overrated sometimes but Jesus Christ, he was a different level from Povetkin. Ike by battery.
Much as i dislike Ibeabuchi and like Povetkin, i think Ike's best wins are better. I think Ike has the chin to handle Povetkin and i think he can maintain a higher work rate. Ike by late stoppage or a decision with several competitive rounds.
Povetkin takes this in my opinion. He was much harder to hit clean, whereas hitting Ike was like shooting at the broad side of a barn with a shotgun. Povetkin was much faster, with a broader array of punches and he had slicker combination punches. Ike's forte was being kinda slow but powerful, tanklike and relentless. Those attributes served him well but Povetkin is more proven in my opinion. I think he'd land more and get hit less and in the course of the fight this would add up to him winning.
