By Ian S Palmer
Heavyweights Dillian Whyte of Jamaica and Alexander Povetkin of Russia will be slugging it out in their long-awaited and much-delayed rematch over in Gibraltar this Saturday, March 27. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office while most other nations can catch it on DAZN with the card set to start about 3pm ET. The fight’s also being billed for the interim WBC World Heavyweight Title. In case you’ve forgotten what happened in their first meeting last August, Whyte dropped Povetkin twice in the fourth round but couldn’t finish him off. Povetkin then landed a mighty left uppercut early in the fifth that put Whyte to sleep.
The 32-year-old Whyte fights out of London, England and is also a former British and WBC International Heavyweight Champion and has won the WBO International and WBC Silver Heavyweight Crowns. He enters the ring at 27-2 with 18 Kos and owns pretty good power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 62.1 per cent. Whyte stands 6-feet-4-four inches tall and has a 78-inch reach and has boxed 160 rounds since turning pro in 2011.
His biggest wins have been over Mariusz Wach, Oscar Rivas, Joseph Parker, Lucas Browne, Robert Helenius, Brian Minto and two victories over Dereck Chisora. Whyte’s first pro defeat came at the hands of Anthony Joshua via a seventh-round stoppage in December, 2015 before Joshua won his title belts by beating Wladimir Klitschko. Whyte also fought Joshua as an amateur in 2009 and dropped him along the way to a decision win.
Whyte’s a former kickboxer and mixed-martial artist with decent boxing skills but he usually relies on his power to carry him through. He’s got good size for a heavyweight but his chin can be questioned as he’s been stopped by Povetkin and to Joshua and was decked by Parker and Rivas. Whyte’s also beaten the likes of Ian Lewison, David Allen and Marcelo Luiz Nascimento.
Alexander Povetkin is now 42 years old and 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 also has good power with a current knockout ratio of 64.12 per cent.
Povetkin has gone the distance in four of his last seven fights but as he proved against Whyte in August, he can take out an opponent in a split second with one perfectly timed shot. During those seven bouts he was stopped by Anthony Joshua and taken the distance by Michael Hunter, Hughie Fury, Andriy Rudenko and Christian Hammer and stopped Whyte and Price. The tilt with Hunter ended in a 12-round draw in December, 2019
Still, Povetkin enters the ring with a fine record of 36-2-1 with 25 Kos. He won the vacant WBA Heavyweight Title by decision against Ruslan Chagaev in 2011 and his first career loss came against former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko by unanimous decision in 2013. He’s basically got the same type of chin as Whyte these days as Klitschko decked him four times, Joshua stopped him in seven and Price rocked him as well.
Povetkin won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics and has fought 260 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. This puts him at a two-inch height and three-inch reach disadvantage against Whyte. His power and durability are probably still underrated even after his win over Whyte as he’s quite a heavy puncher.
Povetkin’s biggest wins have been against the likes of Hughie 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.
Prediction…
I predicted Whyte would win the first meeting but wasn’t surprised when he was taken out. He did seem to blow his big chance of winning a round earlier though with Povetkin on the canvas twice. This fight could go either way too. Povetkin may want to start a lot faster this time around while Whyte may be a little gun shy. Or it could be the opposite and we may see a slow methodical fight between two patient boxers because of the power both men possess. Whyte still has the edge in height, reach and age as he’s a full 10 years younger. Still, it’s an even matchup between two solid heavyweights and once again, no outcome will be surprising. However, a Whyte victory could set up a money-making trilogy for everybody involved and that has me swaying towards a likely scenario.
