truly how good was Povetkin at his absolute prime?

According to Grigory Rodchenkov, it covered every major sport, not just amateur athletics. Because those 'pro' athletes had come thru the state-supported system, too, and were still linked to it. The year Russia was exposed and banned from the Games, Povetkin couldn't pass a test that year for either of his scheduled fights. The Russian Maria Sharapova, the top tennis player in the world, got busted at the same time that year for taking the same stuff Povetkin was using and received a two-year ban from tennis. She said she'd been taking it for 10 years. When Putin gave a speech in 2018 denouncing Rodchenkov (who remains in the U.S. Witness Protection Program), Povetkin was invited and attended.

 

If, and only if, you strip title reigns of all context... Yes.

But then, Andy Ruiz surpassed Wilder the moment he best Joshua and won more belts than Wilder has ever held... If you want to use that logic, that is.

Or you can judge a fighters legacy on who they fought and who they beat, the manner of their victories and defeats (and draws where relevant) - in other words, you can judge a fighter based on their resume and not on a flimsy paper assesment as if you're a historian in a thousand years looking back with zero context with which to judge.


Heck, Wilder achieved more in belt terms, that's undeniable... But who had the better career? I would say Povetkin, personally.

 

U are pro american Wilder's fan who hate anything not american.

U even will claim that Russian gov cares about pro boxing etc noise.
For Russian gov dudes like Clenelo etc are just entertainers.

Ohh, how cool is pro boxing, pro boxing stars might fight only in their base country, use A side advantages and clen and short ban, like clenelo.
Congratulations.

Olympic medals in am boxing had lost their previous presitge after 1988 th, 2012 th and 2016 th.

Pro boxing is entertainment and amusement business, so shut off with pro boxing titles and other carp.
Yeah, pro boxing titles are business crap.
A side lad might put B side lad on clauses and jump up and down in weight classes.
Value in pro boxing is how much $ you bring for media and event's promoters.

 

Bang average would not be top 10 in the 70`s

 

The Hype job Povetkin has never ever won\ a meaningful fight or belt....................was hiding from glass chinned WK in Russia claiming he was nor ready and when they eventually fought he was rag dolled like a little kid.............the same WK who was beaten like a drum from genuine palookas like Purrity/Sanders and Brewster.

This guy has nothing but washed up shot fighters or never were's on his record and every single time he even remotely stepped up he lost......he got rolled by another glass chinned Bodybuilder who in his very next fight spit his mouth piece out and quit against a morbid obese Taco stand owner.......and getting by Euro bum Whyte shows you how bad Whyte is.....

As Dubblechin said, decent Heavy but almost zero accomplishments..............another one trick Pony like Tua actually achieved way more and iced future second tier World champs.............Povetkin feasted on shot to pieces ghosts of former ABC title holders.

 

Very good, I'd say possibly better than anybody bar Fury. His absolute prime being straight after the Wlad loss, I don't know whether it was the PED's or changing trainers or whatnot but he really started sitting down on his punches and KOing dudes.

 

Good contender

 

His best version was probably the one directly after his loss to Wlad, weirdly. That's when he looked the most beastly and got the most savage KOs. Prior to that he was always a very solid guy, but tended to struggle against fighters like Huck, Chagaev, Chambers and at one stage didn't look any better than HW Adamek (compare their Estrada fights).

 

Povetkin was and always has been an absolute bum.

 

Since it is such an odd occurrence, I just wanted to chime in and say that I actually agree with you TO A DEGREE on this one. The second steroids but and the lack of a real belt do hurt his legacy.

However, boxing largely boils down to resume, and he had a great one. Boxrec, which is hardly any kind of official metric but which is the world's only attempt at a scientific measure of a fighter's place, currently has him number 15 of all time. That is absurd beyong measure, but it does speak tp the fact that when you have good fighters on your resume, you are going to be well regarded regardless of titles.

The second steroids bust hurts, and puts an Asterix next to all his accomplishments. The first was thrown out by the WBC, and it was bull**** because he had only trace elements of a substance that had recently been legal. The second hurts him,

Anyway, a rare moment in which we are largely, if not completely, in a agreement.

 

Good enough to beat Wilder and maybe Fury too. Not good enough to beat Klitschko unfortunately, at least not a Klitschko who was allowed to hold a hundred times. 6-3 in title fights.