Klitschko vs. Povetkin

Before facing Alexander Povetkin, it was quite a while since Wladimir Klitschko was placed against a formidable opponent with the promise of an exciting match. Most of Wladimir’s opponents were written off by the boxing community before the first bell ever rang, similar to how Mike Tyson used to tune the boxing public to believe that the fight was never going to be competitive.

That was until one of the biggest and most important challenges to Wladimir Klitschko was signed as his competitor. Alexander Povetkin was supposed to be the fighter to give Klitschko trouble, and possibly expose his so called glass chin once again. Not only did people show interest in that fight, but the event itself yielded record profits. Moscow was buzzing with excitement during the build-up, and even more so during fight night.

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Russia’s Alexander Povetkin had a lot to deal with when he was in the ring challenging for Wladimir Klitschko’s collection of heavyweight titles. The Olympic gold medallist had to cope with Wladimir’s significant advantages in height, reach, weight and physical strength, and Povetkin also had to do his best to come to terms with “Dr. Steel Hammer’s” punching power. To add to these problems, Povetkin had to deal with the champ’s excessive holding, grappling and pushing – these three elements of Klitschko’s game prompting some people to feel the king should have been removed from his throne via disqualification.

But despite all this, Povetkin has called for a rematch with Klitschko. Speaking to The Moscow News today, Povetkin, 26-1(18) said he feels he can improve on last Saturday’s ultimately bruising and frustrating performance.

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How many people who don’t frequent boxing websites are aware that the Heavyweight Championship of the World will be contested mid-day Saturday? The prize once regarded as the greatest in all of sport will be on the line when Wladimir Klitschko faces Alexander Povetkin in Moscow, Russia. Beyond the traditional significance attached to such an event, another element adds even greater intrigue to the story: history. As Klitschko adds days and numbers to his impressive time as champion he more securely solidifies his place among the sport’s greats.

But, again, who will notice?

If HBO’s Saturday fight schedule were a theatrical production, this heavyweight fight would be nothing but the supporting cast member—resting in the shadow of aging star, Miguel Cotto.

But is it really the case that no one cares; or is it simply that Americans don’t care? Wladimir and his brother Vitali have no problem selling out arenas in Europe. They are loved in their native home of Ukraine and their adopted home of Germany.

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Apparently their heavyweight championship fight on October 5 will do very well at the gate as all 14 000 seats have been sold out. Tickets ranging from 90 EUR/120 US$ to 6665 EUR/9000 US$ were no longer available at the end of last week. The fight set one financial record already when Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov bid $23,333,330 to stage the fight and outbid more than three times K2 Promotions and Sauerland Event.

Two Olympic champions in the ring should always mean a great match unless one of them is called Audley Harrison. In this case one of the champs is unbeaten while the other has three KO defeats on his record. Ironically the unbeaten Povetkin is the underdog in this fight. His last outing against a serious opponent – the cruiser weight champion Marco Huck (Muamer Hukić) – did not leave a good impression. He out boxed and out punched Huck easily but his shape was substandard and his conditioning betrayed him in the championship rounds. Only his amateur boxing skills and survival instincts helped him hear the final bell when he barely stood on his feet and fell into the arms of his corner right after the bell. After this spurious performance Povetkin boosted up his confidence with two early KO wins against softer opposition – a faded Hasim Rahman and a Polish heavyweight by the name of Andrzej Wawrzyk.

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