I will start of disclosing my bias, I like Povetkin and dislike Whyte. But watching all the interviews leading up to the rematch I'm confused by everyone saying whyte was dominating Povetkin. Excluding the 4th round KDs I thought it was 50:50 over 3 rounds. Not sure if it was just the matchroom commentators but wondering what the objective ESB members think?
It's a good question. I felt AP was softening him up from the first bell, and was willing to face a knock-down (or two), cos he knows Dill has hugely exploitable weaknesses in the pocket. Dill was always gonna land on AP, always gonna make him work, the only question was: could AP tolerate this while trying to land. AP understood he was gonna have to lose a battle in order to win the war. Exactly the same applies in this follow-up. Whytes lack of balance, dropping of his hands, tendency to look down or stick his chin out, will all be there for the taking. Equally, AP's age and limited leg strength/balance will cause him problems. So I expect a very similar fight and I'd bet on the same outcome. Finally, I can only assume the narrative we keep hearing from Whyte/Sky of 'he was dominating' is simply tactics to give the impression to AP's team that Dil will basically do same again in this fight. I simply can't believe a serious boxer with a serious trainer would ignore the very obvious weaknesses he showed in the first fight, and fling him back in there to simply try and jab a bit more and avoid engaging. If I'm wrong, and Whytes team are genuinely of the mind that he was dominating, then I'm getting a new job as a boxing coach!
If having near 50/50 rounds where you can barely split them for the first three rounds is considered dominating.... then yes. But in reality, absolutely not. The only round Dillian Whyte dominated was the fourth. An argument could be made that Sasha swept the first three.
First and second round I had Povetkin ahead, third round Whyte but there was quite some lowblows which the referee didn't address to and the commentators called "good body shots". Round 4 obviously Whyte. I'd say Whyte took over after round two but then again, we only saw two rounds, who knows how it would have proceeded in the full distance. Povetkin didn't really want to find out it seems.
If Whyte loses, this will be a tale of what happens when your promotion team reach past your ability. Whyte went the best part of 23 hellish rounds with Chisora, and Chisora is a very very poor man's Povetkin. I'm absolutely convinced Whyte and his team thought they could jab and move a little bit, ala the Chisora fight.
I'd say Whyte was doing pretty well for a while. Certainly not dominating, and povetkin was sizing him up to deliver that final blow; so maybe Povetkin was a little poor until he'd worked him out. Question is, was it a few rounds where Whyte fought out of his skin and can he do well for 12 rounds? I'd put my money on Whyte performing well and stopping Pov, but it's like 55-45 DW - AP for me.
No the commentary team were incredibly biased and they were ignoring a lot of Povetkin's work and waxing lyrical about everything Whyte did. They were even praising Whyte when Povetkin was the one doing the good work. Povetkin looked every day of his 40 years but he was either up after 3 or down 2-1 at the absolute worst and he was competitive even in the round he got dropped twice, in between the KDs.
I’ll be interested to see where whyte goes after he loses this fight. He’ll still expect to be ppv and want the wilder fight but obviously won’t deserve it
Dillian is a world class HW who has paid his dues for 429 weeks. He came from nothing and was kept down by the British Empire, then the WBC. A true hard luck story. He fights anyone and never turns down a fight*. He's the people's champion and a PPV star. If anyone deserves a second chance eliminator, it's Dillian. He learned from his defeats and never gives up. He's a genuine character, a likeable rogue and a father since primary school. Dillian was dominating Povetkin quite comfortably, controlling the ring, the action, making it clear who the general was. Povetkin looked out of ideas, outclassed, lumbering, wary, and by round 4, ready to go. His corner was about to pull him out after the KD's. His eyes were squinty, his face red. Then Povetkin came out and threw caution to the wind. He landed a shot that would have KO'd a horse, possibly a small rhino. Dillian could do nothing. 99/100 times Dillian wins that fight. But it's the HW division and these guys can KO livestock.
I'm a Povetkin fan, but I had Dillian clearly winning before the KO. Round 1-2 - Were very close, but Dillians Jab I felt was the deciding factor in the scoring. Round 3 - I gave it to Dillian Round 4 - Two knockdowns Round 5 - ... "The once great Alexander Povetkin..... OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH" Me - "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SIT THE **** DOWN BITCHEZZZZZZZZZZZ AYDAMN... AYDAMN WER U AT MY HOMIE" XD
You can argue that he won all three of the first rounds, just as you can argue he lost all of them. He dominated the forth. He slept in the fifth.
One of the finest Adam Smith moments too: "Is that punch resistance just going a bit, legs slower...take nothing away HE'S KNOCKED DILLIAN WHYTE COLD HERE!!!!"
Whyte was winning the rounds, but Povetkin was always in the fight. Even after the knockdowns. That the commentators didn't recognise that during the call reflects poorly on them. Unless of course they consider their principal job is to blow smoke up the backside of the local fighter. They did that well enough.
Prior to the KO, I thought Whyte was more or less in full control and was on his way to knocking Povetkin out. He had the 2 knockdowns and Povetkin's legs were noticeably not what they were. But then........... BANG. One shot is all it takes.