By Ian S Palmer
Wembley Stadium in London, should be packed out again this Saturday, September 22nd as Anthony Joshua of England puts his IBF, IBO, WBO and WBA (Super) Heavyweight Titles on the line against Alexander Povetkin of Russia. Joshua last fought in March when he took the WBO crown from Joseph Parker by unanimous decision. Povetkin fought on the same card and stopped David Price in the fifth round. This fight can be seen live in the UK on Sky Box Office while fans in North America can catch the action on DAZN.
The 28-year-old Joshua of Watford is a former Olympic gold medalist who won the IBF Title in just his 16th pro bout when he stopped Charles Martin in the second round in April, 2016. He enters the fight with a perfect record of 21-0 with 20 big Kos. He ended his first 14 bouts and 16 of his first 18 fights within the first three rounds. However, he’s gone 11, 10, and 12 rounds in his last three outings against Wladimir Klitschko, Carlos Takam and Parker respectively. Joshua won the British title against Dillian Whyte in December, 2015 after winning gold at the 2012 Olympics.
Joshua has excellent power, but his chin is still a major question mark and his power hasn’t been as evident lately. Klitschko had him down and apparently out in the sixth round, but Joshua came back and stop him to win the majority of his belts. Joshua turned pro in 2013 and has 77 rounds under his belt since. He’s a good-sized heavyweight by today’s standards as he stands 6-feet-6-inches tall and has a reach of 82 inches. His best known opponents have been Klitschko, Takam, Parker, Charles Martin, Eric Molina, Dominic Breazeale, Dillian Whyte, Kevin Johnson, Matt Skelton and Michael Sprott.
Joshua is arguably a bit too muscle bound, but possesses pretty good boxing skills even if he is a bit robotic. The champ has decent mobility and upper body movement as well as a stiff jab. He usually tries to stay away from slugfests if possible while he attempts to box his opponents and use his size to advantage. However, he’s often forced to slug it out when he gets nailed on the chin and rocked. He’ll try using his jab and nailing Povetkin with something solid whenever he sees an opening and will definitely go after him if he feels he’s hurt.
Povetkin is now 39 years old and he’s the current WBA and WBO International Heavyweight Champion. He was formerly the WBA World titleholder and would obviously love to become world champion again. Povetkin’s scheduled bouts against Deontay Wilder and Bermane Stiverne in the past fell through due to irregularities in his drug tests, but he’s presumably clean now. The former world champion also has fine power with a current knockout ratio of 69 per cent, but he’s been taken the distance in two of his last three fights by the likes of Andriy Rudenko and Christian Hammer.
Still, Povetkin enters the ring with a fine record of 34-1 along with 24 Kos. He won the vacant WBA Heavyweight Title by decision against Ruslan Chagaev in 2011 and his lone loss came against former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision in 2013. He’s got a solid chin even though Klitschko decked him four times and Price rocked him back in March. Like Joshua. Povetkin’s also an Olympic gold medalist as he cleaned up at the 2004 Games. He turned pro a year later and now has 224 rounds of activity under his belt.
The Russian isn’t big by today’s heavyweight standards as he stands 6-feet-2-inches tall with a 75-inch reach. This means he gives up four inches in height and seven inches in reach to Joshua. His power is probably underrated as he’s quite a heavy puncher and Joshua will need to be wart of this. Povetkin’s biggest wins have been against the likes of 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.
Prediction…
Povetkin’s not really that well known outside of Europe, but he’s been very consistent over the years. His experience, power and chin make him a hard opponent to beat, but he’s still 39 years old. He’s also quite a bit smaller than Joshua too. But like just about every heavyweight who enters the ring against Joshua, he does have a puncher’s chance. The size difference means Povetkin’s going to have to work his way inside without getting nailed while doing so. He does have the power to stop Joshua and this is always a possibility, but I think the more likely scenario is Joshua retaining his titles by points or stoppage.
