Wladimir Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin set for October 5, in Moscow

07/03/201307/02/2013 ESB

wladimir3 IBF/IBO Heavyweight Champion, WBO/WBA Heavyweight Super Champion and „The Ring Magazine“ World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko will meet with WBA “regular” Heavyweight Champion Alexander Povetkin at the SC Olimpiyskiy arena in Moscow (Russia) on October 5.

After extended negotiations an agreement for one of the most eagerly awaited world boxing bouts between two Olympic and reigning heavyweight champions has finally been reached.

For 37-year-old Wladimir Klitschko it is the second appearance in the boxing ring in 2013. In his last fight in May he defeated Francesco Pianeta by TKO 6. The professional record of the 1996 Olympic Gold medalist is 60 wins (52 KOs) with only 3 losses. It will be Klitschko’s 24rd World Championship fight.

Wladimir Klitschko Wants The Contract Signed, But States Team Povetkin Has Issues

07/22/201906/04/2013 Vitali Shaposhnikov

“The contract has not yet been signed because there are still too many not agreed upon clauses in the contract. At this moment there are still too many questions, to which team Povetkin has no answers. All the answers from our side have already been taken care of. There is good communication between us, but when it comes to the official talk, all of a sudden there are questions. I hope that we can solve all the issues and finally sign the contract. If not, we will move forward without Povetkin,” stated Wladimir Klitschko.

I am assuming that the questions and issues that Wladimir is referring to are the drug testing and the financial agreement. Of course K2 promotions is looking to get the bigger cut of the money pie, as they should. The drug testing issue also has numerous ways of being solved, ways that would clearly work for both sides. So what is holing up the fight? Is one side trying to avoid fighting the other?

Klitschko-Povetkin could fall apart over drug testing

06/03/201306/02/2013 Jeff Sorby

wlad53 IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko may pull out of his October 5th fight with WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin unless the two can come together and agree on the drug testing for their fight at the Olimpiyskiy in Moscow, Russia.

Povetkin wants the drug testing for the fight to be done by a Russian drug testing agency; whereas Wladimir wants it to be conducted by National Anti-Doping Agency [NADA], which is a German drug testing agency.

Oleg Maskaev talks Povetkin vs. Klitschko

06/02/201305/29/2013 Vitali Shaposhnikov

Oleg Maskaev has been in boxing for quite some time, and is one of the very few seasoned Russian heavyweight champions in the recent past. In a recent interview he talked about Alexander Povetkin vs. Wladimir Klitschko, and had said some very interesting things.

Wladimir Klitschko to fight on April 6th, but it might not be against Povetkin

01/17/2013 ESB

By Jeff Sorby: WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin doesn’t appear to be in the cards for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko’s next fight on April 6th, according to espnnewyork.com. The Povetkin-Wladimir fight will take place later on in the year unless Povetkin decides he still doesn’t want to fight the 6’6” Wladimir.

The April 6th fight will likely see Wladimir face another less than spectacular opponent. Kubrat Pulev and Tomasz Adamek will be fighting in an IBF heavyweight eliminator bout this year, but neither of those guys will be fighting Wladimir next. That means that Wladimir will have to choose from a list of heavyweights that won’t be competitive. He’s already destroyed his last three opponents since his mismatch with David Haye in 2011. Since that one-sided fight, Wladimir has wiped out 39-year-old Jean Marc Mormeck, 41-year-old Tony Thompson and soundly beaten Mariusz Wach.

There’s not much time before April, so that likely means we could see an especially weak opponent for Wladimir.

Wladimir Klitschko – Alexander Povetkin On Collision Course

09/15/201612/19/2012 ESB

by Richard Smith: Not for the first time, heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko and fellow Olympic champion Alexander Povetkin are rumoured to be a on a collision course. Ordinarily, a fight between the dominant champion of the era and an unbeaten Olympic gold medalist would be a thrilling prospect. Instead, even if the fight finally takes place, its lustre will have dimmed considerably since the matchup was first proposed in 2008.

Four years ago, Povetkin was coming off consecutive victories over former Vitali Klitschko conqueror Chris Byrd and undefeated prospect Eddie Chambers. From that point on, his career stagnated. In fact, it was Chambers who would ultimately get a shot at Wladimir, suffering a 12th round stoppage defeat in March 2010. Meanwhile, Povetkin was picking up victories over such boxing notables as Taurus Sykes, Leo Nolan and Teke Oruh. Since claiming the vacant WBA ‘regular’ title with victory over Ruslan Chagaev in 2011, his most exciting win came over Marco Huck, a cruiserweight.

Povetkin to have to wait until next summer to fight Wladimir Klitschko

09/14/201610/01/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: If WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) really honestly wants a shot against IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitshko next year, who you can make an argument that might not really want this fight, then he’s going to have to wait until next summer at the earliest for the fight to happen. There’s talk that the 33-year-old Povetkin’s promoters at Sauerland Events want to put Povetkin in with Wladimir in February of next year. However, that’s not going to happen according to Wladimir’s manager Bernd Boente. If the fight does happen it’s going to take place next summer.

This isn’t exactly a bad thing for Povetkin and Sauerland because it’s not as if he’s going to beat Wladimir anyway. Sure, he’d get a nice payday for the Wladimir fight but he’d out-gunned and totally embarrassed by the 6’6″ Wladimir. Sauerland Events is better off by keeping Povetkin busy fighting the older heavyweights he’s been dining on lately. He picked up the WBA title with a win over Ruslan Chagav, and then has defended it against 42-year-old Cedric Boswell, 39-year-old Hasim Rahman and then a cruiserweight in Marco Huck.

The talk now is that Povetkin will make his defense against 41-year-old Serbian Javo Pudar in either late December or early 2013. With these easy fights who needs Wladimir? All he’ll do is mess things up by ending the Povtkin gravy train by whipping him and sending him back into the contender ranks. I don’t know that Povetkin will ever be a champion again if Wladimir beats him because there’s better heavyweight contenders out than Povetkin.

Wladimir Klitschko doubts that Povetkin will fight him

09/14/201609/29/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) easily took care of Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) earlier tonight in a 2nd round TKO win in Hamburg, Germany. It was impressive stuff from Povetkin in beating an over-matched and badly past his prime 39-year-old Rahman. The question that boxing fans now want to know is when if ever will the 33-year-old Povetkin step it up and take on IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko or his brother WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.

Povetkin said this after the fight as quoted by espn “When [my promoters] say it’s time to fight Klitschko, I will be ready. He’s the best heavyweight in the world and I will be ready to fight him.”

Wladiimr doesn’t think Povetkin wants the fight, saying to Sports Illustrated “Right. Where was he before? Please.”

Rahman blames his loss to Povetkin on being dehydratred

09/14/201609/29/2012 ESB

By Dwight Chittenden: Nothing went right for 39-year-old Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) tonight in him losing to WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) by a 2nd round TKO at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany. Rahman waited four years for this title shot and when it came he looked weak, lethargic and incisive in getting demolished by the Russian Povetkin.

Later after the fight, Rahman blamed the defeat in part on being dehydrated, saying as quoted by ESPN “I was weak and dehydrated. I was in the hospital last night for fluids. I couldn’t move. He’s not a terribly big puncher but I couldn’t establish my jab. I was flat.”

Even if Rahman was on the level about this, it was on him for being dehydrated the night before the fight. What was he doing that dehydrated this close to a fight? It’s not as if Rahman was having to boil down to make weight or something. This is heavyweight and Rahman could come into the fight weighing a fat 300 pounds and the fight would have still taken place. If he was working out hard a day before the fight then he shouldn’t have been because that’s when you take it easy.

Povetkin stops Rahman’ Pulev stops Ustinov; Culcay defeats Thompson

09/14/201609/29/2012 ESB

By Marcus Richardson: In a fight that should have never been allowed to happen, WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) destroyed 39-year-old former WBC heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KO’s) in the 2nd round at the on Saturday night at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Rahman just looked shot to pieces, like a fighter that didn’t belong in the same ring with Povetkin due to his faded skills. In the 2nd round, Povetkin staggered Rahman with a left hook to the head that caused Rahman to staggered back against the ropes. Povetkin then teed off on Rahman with combinations until the referee finally stopped the fight at 1:46 of the round.

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Unbeaten EBU heavyweight champion Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) defeated the huge 6’7 1/2″ Alexander Ustinov (27-1, 21 KO’s) by an 11th round knockout in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator bout.