By Ian S Palmer
Michael Hunter of Van Nuys, California returns to the ring this Saturday, December 7th in Saudi Arabia when he takes on former WBA Heavyweight Champion Alexander Povetkin of Russia. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK on Sky Box Office while North American fans can catch the action on DAZN. Povetkin last fought in August when he beat Hughie fury by a 12-round unanimous decision while Hunter’s last bout was a 12-round unanimous decision over Sergey Kuzmin in September for the WBA Inter-Continental Heavyweight Crown.
Povetkin is now 40 years old and he won the WBA and WBO International Heavyweight Titles with a fifth-round stoppage over David Price in March, 2018. He’s a former WBA World Titleholder whose past proposed bouts against Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne fell through due to irregularities in his drug tests. The former world champion has pretty good power with a current knockout ratio of 65 per cent, but has just one stoppage in his last five fights as he was beaten by Anthony Joshua and taken the distance by Fury, Andriy Rudenko and Christian Hammer.
Still, Povetkin enters the ring with a fine record of 35-2 with 24 Kos. He won the vacant WBA Heavyweight Title by decision against Ruslan Chagaev in 2011 and his other career loss came against former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision in 2013. He’s got a decent chin even though Klitschko decked him four times, Joshua stopped him in seven last year and Price rocked him in March. Povetkin won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics and has fought 243 rounds since turning pro a year later.
The Russian isn’t big by today’s heavyweight standards as he stands 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 75-inch reach. His power and durability are probably underrated as he’s quite a heavy puncher and Hunter will need to be wary of this. Povetkin’s biggest wins have been against the likes of Fury, Andriy Rudenko, Chagaev, Johan Duhaupas, Mariusz Wach, Mike Perez, Carlos Takam, Manuel Charr, Hasim Rahman, Marco Huck, Nicolai Firtha, Eddie Chambers, Chris Byrd, Larry Donald and Friday Ahunanya.
The 31-year-old Hunter, who fights out of Las Vegas, climbs through the ropes with a record of 18-1 with 12 Kos. He’s boxed 107 rounds since making his pro debut in 2013 after a fine amateur career. Hunter, the son of former pro heavyweight Mike ‘The Bounty Hunter’ Hunter. Michael fought at the Olympic Games in London in 2012 where he lost to current light heavyweight titleholder Artur Beterbiev. He also fought at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago where he beat Andy Ruiz Jr. on his way to the quarterfinals.
Hunter was a 2007 US National Champion in the Super Heavyweight division and also was the US Olympic Trials Gold medalist the same year. In 2008 he was an Olympic Trials silver and bronze medalist and beat Oscar Rivas on the way and also fought at the World Cup in Russian but failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2008. He was the US National Super Heavyweight Champ in 2009 and US National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion in 2011. He was the 2012 US National Heavyweight Champion while competing at the Olympics.
As a pro, Hunter has captured the WBO NABO Cruiserweight Title as well as the IBO Inter-Continental, and WBA International Heavyweight Belts. Hunter’s lone pro defeat came at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk by way of unanimous decision in 2017 in a shot at the WBO Cruiserweight Title. His biggest wins have been against Jason Douglas, Isiah Thomas, Iago Kiladze, Alexander Ustinov, Fabio Maldonado and Kuzmin. Like Povetkin, Hunter stands 6-feet-2-inches tall but has a 4.5-inch reach advantage with a wingspan of 79.5 inches and also has decent power with a knockout ratio of 63.2 per cent.
Preview…
Povetkin represents Hunter’s stiffest test as a pro and Hunter is nine years younger with a 4.5-inch edge in reach. However, Povetkin has plenty more experience and arguably more power. Regardless of the age difference this is a pretty even matchup between two solid, underrated heavyweights with excellent amateur pedigree. As long as Hunter can handle Povetkin’s power I think he should be able to do just enough to earn a victory.
