true, but there are valid reasons for why thompson should get his shot first, even though i believe wlad-povetkin would be a far more interessting fight. 1. thompson has been waiting a while now for his shot. he could have pressed the issue when iggy was champ but instead let the boys unify. 2. povetkin just recently won his eliminator, and usually the champ has up to 1 year to face his mandatory, so this gives wlad time to knock off thompson and still have breathing room to prepare for povetkin. 3. thompson is getting old. the longer wlad leaves it before fighting him it will just look like he is beating up on an older fighter. povetkin is young and needs more time to mature his craft. might as well fight thompson while people will still regard him with even a glimmer of a chance. 4. and most importantly, wladimir has done the right thing by the IBF and has beaten three IBF ranked fighters and mandatories in austin, brock and brewster. they should give him a little flexibility now to pursue unification as he didn't complain or try to weasel out of any high ranked fights like a lot of fighters do. he could have fought top 50 level fighters but he didn't. so when you add all this up it makes sense. and most likely what is gonna happen.
I think the Povetkin fight can wait. TT ain´t getting younger, so he better get his chance now, or never. I think it´s good for Povetkin to wait a little longer before fight Wlad, he´s so talented, but I think it´s too early for him to win at this point. It´s the Wlad vs Povetkin fight that I´m most excited about of those two, but to be honest...at this point I rather would see a Peter rematch...so that the question marks get straightened out between them.
This fight won't happen so soon, and here's why: Povetkin is not ready for Wlad, and he knows it. He's not stupid, so he don't want to fight Wlad yet. Povetkin still has to develop as a HW, his fight against Chambers showed that, he still has many flaws, just imagine if Wlad hits him with the shots Chambers hit him with in the first three rds. He has to work on these flaws and have a couple other fights first. That's why Wlad will fight Thompson first, even if Wlad-Povetkin fight would be huge in Germany, or even Russia, much bigger than Wlad-Thompson anyways. No matter what, Wlad will probably still knock out both of them.
Povetkin is next in line after Thompson. His managers have to make a decision. Do they wait 6-8 months for a big payday and fight Wlad next, or go for a different match then try to force a fight with Chagaev or the winner of Vitlai Klitschko vs Sam Peter? Its nice to have options, but the most open path for Povetkin is also the hardest road to pass.
