A winner goes home (to an extent anyway) rematch will take place in Gibraltar between Alexander Povetkin and Dillian Whyte. Sure, an interim WBC heavyweight trinket is a stake, but the outcome of Saturday’s bout goes much deeper.
The victor will keep himself in line for even bigger opportunities and larger paydays along with a possible mando spot for the real titlist Tyson Fury.
Beyond some decent opponents or being placed in a stepping stone position, the loser of this fight can basically kiss the limelight goodbye.
This bout will be streamed live on DAZN in America and on Sky Sports PPV in the United Kingdom. Kudos goes out to DAZN for making what normally is a basketball month in the states jammed-full of entertaining main events.
Dillan Whyte and Alexander Povetkin have the capability of knocking down at the minimum or knocking out almost everyone at heavy.
Both have been battered as well, with Whyte getting stopped to the point of total unconsciousness. In fact, the time off from the brutal result back in August may do him a bunch of good, considering Whyte was training ASAP for what seemed too early to be stepping right back in the ring in November.
Povetkin contracting Covid-19 obviously puts him at a disadvantage to some degree, but we won’t know until fight night if that comes into play fully.
For Dillian to be able to stay in shape, take a break over the holidays and then start training camp again can only help him recoup.
Much had been made of Dillian Whyte’s quest to fight Deontay Wilder when he had the WBC strap. Although Whyte hadn’t been named the official mandatory, it didn’t prevent Eddie Hearn and the UK press from adding fuel to the fire.
This boxing podcaster did believe Whyte had proven worthy of becoming the mando and getting a legit shot. However, the actual facts do tell a different story of just how long he was a real mando as opposed to the #1 ranking.
Whyte turned down a rematch with Anthony Joshua and a fight versus Luis Ortiz for a title eliminator.
Whether we like it or not, Dominic Breazeale had already been made the mandatory, so this narrative that Wilder had been ducking Dillian while facing Luis Ortiz twice and Tyson Fury twice is just silly.
Alexander Povetkin had his chance to face Deontay Wilder and has no one to blame but himself. That said, Povetkin did get a shot against Wladimir Klitschko and, more recently in September of 2018, taking on Anthony Joshua.
The Wlad fight didn’t go well at all, but it should be noted the Russian native broke Joshua’s nose and managed to give him a good push before eventually getting stopped.
My best guess is the pace will start a tad bit tentative, as was the case in the opening round. Povetkin uses upper body movement and offers a more complete offensive arsenal.
Alexander can move ever so slightly out of range to incoming attacks, whereas Whyte is more of a plotter, for the most part, trying to use his jab and land bombs via overhand rights.
Dillian has a solid left hook and has a track record of putting work into the body as well. All the above items took place in their first meeting.
Povetkin landed just enough to win the first round. In the second frame, the fighters started to mix it up a notch with the round open for interruption as to who clearly won. Whyte probably landed the best shot of the second and took that momentum into the 3rd round finding a home with his hard right hands.
Whyte’s jab at times, a double jab, allowed him to target the body, something that was effective for the two of them. In the fourth, Whyte landed back to back right hands and a scrapping left hook to score a knockdown.
Whyte took his time and even showed flashes of defense, keeping a tight guard and blocking shots. Off the ropes, Whyte’s short left hook uppercut dropped Povetkin yet again.
Povetkin stayed poised and 25 seconds or so into the 5th round threw a left uppercut that flat-lined Whyte bringing us to the present day. Especially Alexander, but this pertains to either one of these boxers as they reach the end of their rope, meaning punch resistance.
Clearly, Povetkin was the guy who looked older and slower and now is coming off a bout with Covid-19. Closer to falling off the edge of the cliff is Povetkin, but we can’t forget it was Whyte who got put to sleep.
Literally still on the fence as this boxing addict types away, trying to take a stab at which fighter will get their hands raised. No outcome, including a slobber-knocking draw with each guy, severely hurt, would surprise me.
The great thing about this matchup is it will produce explosive moments for however long it lasts. A drama-filled ugly in spots heavyweight slobber-knocker is almost guaranteed, so sit back and enjoy the ride.
My Official Prediction is Alexander Povetkin by late TKO.
Written by Chris Carlson Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio & Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio