What do people see in Alexander Povetkin?

The Povetkin-Norton fantasy fight thread inspired me to ask this, because it’s puzzled me for ages.

Many on this forum treat Povetkin like he’s one of the best of a generation of heavyweights, a force to be reckoned with.

And I absolutely do not get it.

He won a vacant WBA regular belt — whatever the **** that is — and he and his promotion saw him for what he was and lined up the softest touches possible to defend it. Cedric “I’m 42 and have never been considered anything” Boswell, Hasim “I’m 40 and completely washed” Rahman, cruiserweight Marco Huck (in a life-and-death fight that imo really exposed Povetkin) and Andrjz Wawrsjzek (or whatever his name was), a guy whom nobody had ever heard of with zero credentials.

This is a period where if Povetkin was the real thing, they could have made that case by putting him in with formidable opposition … and instead he fought has-beens and never-was’s (and a cruiserweight).

Then he fought Wlad and got dismantled. Pushed around, bullied, rag-dolled, knocked down, you name it. Povetkin would plod in, get close to Wlad and … not throw a punch. He would, instead, thrust both arms out under Wlad’s armpits and it would be called holding. Call it what you will, but go back and look at how many times Povetkin is in range to unleash before any clinch and … doesn’t throw a punch. There are times when Wlad literally throws both arms above his head to show Povetkin is bear-hugging him with both arms thrust straight out … and Alexander STILL doesn’t throw a punch to a guy who is offering both his body and his head unprotected. Like WTF?

The only point in Povetkin’s favor in this fight was Wlad getting a one-point deduction for holding. He won every round. He won by 15 (or was it 16) points on every card in a 12-round fight. This was a completely uncompetitive effort on Povetkin’s part, and yet some still seem to think he was special.

Alexander wasn’t a big puncher. He didn’t beat top prime opposition. He didn’t do much of anything.

He did get popped for PEDs twice. He escaped the first one pleading that he took the substance before it was banned and it somehow showed up in his blood … and then got popped for even more egregious substances soon after. He was documented in a training camp to have spent time in a village in Spain known for Tour de France bicyclists who later failed drug tests for visiting before races (it was a PED factory) that had no boxing facilities … and claimed it was a fishing trip, lol.

There is zero doubt he was an Ivan Drago-level PED cheat.

After that suspension for the second failed test, he had to be more careful. He beat a few so-so guys and lost most of his meaningful fights.

He was knocked down and knocked around enough in his time that we know he wasn’t iron-chinned. As noted, he wasn’t a great puncher. He had no jaw-dropping wins.

Yet he’s held up as some kind of great fighter. So I ask his cheerleading section … why?

What’s so special about this guy?

 

He had a long enough career to have built a resume worthy of examination.

Only he didn’t.

When you have a guy you think is best in the world or capable of being that, as a manager and promoter you don’t line up the Boswells and Andjewz Walruses of the world. That tells me they know what they had. And what they didn’t.

Forget Wlad’s tactics and examine what Povetkin is doing. If he keeps his hands in front of him rather than putting his head on Wlad’s chest and thrusting his arms out under Wlad’s elbows, he could work effectively … or try to. He did not act in any way like he wanted to fight. I think once he tasted Wlad’s power he gave up on the idea of trying to win except possibly by DQ. He damned sure didn’t let go with those pretty combos you described. He made zero adjustments.

I don’t see anything special about him whatsoever.

 

Chambers? if he’s a big win, we live in different universes. And it’s not like Povetkin beat the same versions of Byrd and Rahman — it’s not quite crediting Pat Lawlor for wins on par with Hearns because he beat Duran and Benitez, but surely you’re not saying that with a straight face?

The reason belts weren’t available to him was because he lost title shots due to getting popped for ‘roids. And because his lone title attempt vs Wlad was a complete dud. “Not available to him” makes it sound like he was a victim of the color barrier or some unfair practice that kept him from what was rightfully his, lol.

 

Byrd was 37 and Rahman was less than 2 months shy of 40. Neither had a single win of note between losing to Wlad and losing to Povetkin.

Between them, Byrd and Rahman had three more fights and one more win (that win being by Byrd at cruiserweight over a 4-3 guy). Byrd got KO’d at light heavyweight seven months after fighting Povetkin, lol.

Chambers was undefeated but he was a smallish guy with some skills but hardly a world-beater. It’s not a horrible win but if that’s a defining win on someone’s resume, that in itself is pretty defining.

I see no argument for Povetkin being the second-best heavyweight of his era because both Klitschkos are in that era. Depending on how you want to define that ‘era’ there are guys like Monte Barrett, Corrie Sanders, Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua who all beat Klitschkos — something Povetkin failed miserably at doing in his one try — not to mention Deontay Wilder and some others.

Povetkin to me was never an elite heavyweight in his time, but was usually at the top of the heap of the next level … he beat a lot of the other also-rans. He was ‘best in show’ among the bridesmaids but he was never the bride.