I don't know man, to be honest I think Wilder, Ortiz and Rivas do to Povetkin what Whyte, after two fights, eventually did. Povetkin is absolutely shot, his movement and ability to dodge a punch combined with his rapidly declining punch resistance, not to mention the fact that he's had Covid and we have no idea what that's actually done to him other than the shell of a man we saw against Whyte, means that he is no longer able to compete at any kind of top level. The Povetkin that beat Hughie is gone, he is absolutely done, he was before Whyte 1 but he had that punch in him because he was once elite and Whyte was taking him too lightly and was uncoordinated and messy enough to leave himself open. Whyte v Povetkin 2 - One had been on a juicing training camp in Portugal, the other was shot, the wrong side of 40 and recovering from Covid, there was no redemption, no anything, Povetkin could barely convincingly get into the ring.
Had to laugh at Wilder, I do admire Mitch's dedication to discrediting Wilder. This current version of Povetkin vs Wilder would be really ugly.
Potentially life changing, Wilder can bang like no other, he just got done by a Fury masterclass, he's probably the worst opponent that Povetkin could wish to face now other than a prime Mike Tyson.
Agreed - he's an absolute shell of what he was now unfortunately. He shouldn't fight again imo, especially anyone top 10. He's had a very good career, nothing left to prove.
Several people have beaten me to it and articulated it far better than me. Povetkin should never box again. Should have quit in 2019 to be honest but fair play to him for getting a few more paydays. The reality is that he's massively shot. All them fellas you mention would beat this version of Povetkin. Arreola is not what he was and even that wasn't much, but he at least can throw a punch without almost falling over unlike Pov. Was genuinely very shocked by the decline of him in the first Whyte fight.
Agree. Povetkin would leave the ring on a stretcher if he were to fight Wilder. Rivas and probably Ortiz would batter him as well.
The decline was very fast I agree. I'm 41 and have been training all my life, most part injury free. In the last two months I've herniated a disk tying my laces, damaged my calf from running and started to get up once a night to pee etc. Age catches up with you and I think Povetkin was in no shape to fight Whyte the first time (which he fluked imho) never mind the second time. I see Whyte losing to Wilder, Hunter, Hrgovich, Joyce, Dubios, Parker (I know), Ruiz and Usyk... I would go so far as saying Wallin would be a 50/50 He's the new Delboy of the devision, not "War Chisora" but Delboy.
I hate to say it but Sasha beats nobody in the top ten based on his last performance I've rarely seen a fighter deteriorate so quickly
Covid has taken years off of Povetkins career. He shouldn't box again because he isn't the same man he was even when he fought Hunter.
I thought Povetkin was clearly over-the-hill when he faced Price in 2018, then was stopped by Joshua about six months later. Already about 39 then, so no surprise. Retirement seemed like the right move after the Joshua fight, but he carried on. Then when he faced Hunter in late 2019 he looked nearly 'shot', and it was quite a gruelling fight, so I absolutely expected him to be completely shot if he fought again. And he did .... despite knocking Whyte out in 5 rounds ... he looked completely shot in August 2020 fight. He was a worn-out old man reduced to 3-round fighter who somehow managed to get through the 4th round and land a punch on Whyte's suspect whiskers near the start of the 5th. What we saw in the rematch last month was BEYOND SHOT. That was a scandal really. He shouldn't have been licensed.
Also before this. Like all 3 fights he had won, he looked over the hill. 3 fights before fight vs A.J he started to look over the hill. Looked like legs are starting to be gone. If legs are gone, fighter is done. I had assumed that he will retire even before his fight vs Price. Most likely cos high ranking positions his purses still were good and he continued cos this? Maybe also relatively casual for EE boxers thing that they sometimes are staying in the game too long after they are over the hill?
Povetkin still had his legs about him and was a capable fighter by all accounts he had Joshua shocked early on in the fight before gassing out.
If about Pov, I had saw also 17 y.o Pov, then later Pov and I think I can compare these all his versions. Ofc for me it is a bit different eye. I had saw also Huck as ammy KBer etc like fighters. OK, I most likely too scrupulous to evalue legs if compare with boxing fans. Leg declines not that fast, experienced ppl see decline start moments relatively easily.