Safe to say Joshua NEEDS an impressive performance vs Povetkin

I think you overestimate casuals. Povetkin is a legit fighter anyway but Sky will properly put him over prior to the fight so I don't think the performance will matter as much as it perhaps should

 

Joshuas doomed, Povetkins been sparring Cornish ! LOL

 

Let's be realistic, Joshua is likely to employ the same strategy as Klitschko against Povetkin.
It could be ugly.
I think Povetkin is too old to last the distance this time.

Joshua, as long as he keeps his weight down at 245 or less, can become a better boxer in every fight, but he'll also become a boring robotic fighter like Wlad was.
It won't hurt his mainstream appeal though. Most of his fans are women and clueless drunks who don't really remember the fights anyway. They just like to gather around and scream his name and as long as he wins they are happy.

 

AJ will have to box smart and keep povetkin on the end of the jab.

They can’t take any risks with povetkin because his boxing style is very similar to those that stopped AJ in the amateurs

This isn’t some shot old man the wilder fans are describing povetkin as

 

Povetkin stops joshua