By Ian S Palmer
Hughie Fury of England returns to the ring this Saturday, August 31st at the 02 Arena in London 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 American fans can catch the action on ESPN+ and those in Canada can check out TSN 1. Fury was last in the ring against Samuel Peter in July and took the bout in the seventh round when Peter was unable to continue due to a shoulder injury. Povetkin last fought in September when he was stopped in the seventh round by former WBA, IBF and WBO and IBO champion Anthony Joshua.
Fury of Manchester of course is the cousin of Tyson Fury. He’s just 24 years old and hasn’t really beaten anybody of note up to now since turning pro in 2013. He’s boxed a total of 130 rounds against the likes of Peter Sam Sexton, Fred Kassi, Dominick Guinn, Larry Olubamiwo, Andriy Rudenko and Matthew Greer. When he did step up in class against Joseph Parker for a shot at his WBO Heavyweight Title in September of 2017 he held his own, but dropped a majority decision.
He didn’t look impressive at all against Kubrat Pulev last October either and lost a 12-round unanimous decision and wasn’t really imposing his will against Peter two months ago when the fight was stopped. Fury enjoyed a pretty good amateur career and stopped Sam Sexton in five rounds in May, 2018 to win the British Heavyweight Title. However, he’s been mainly successful as a pro due to his size as he stands 6-feet-6-inches tall with an 80-inch wingspan.
Along with winning the British Heavyweight Title, Fury has also captured the WBO Inter-Continental Belt as a pro. He’s quite mobile in the ring but often slaps pity-pat punches instead of letting them go with power and his current knockout ratio is 52 per cent. He’s displayed a solid chin so far and if Povetkin catches him on the button he may need it. In reality, Fury isn’t considered championship material by most and never will be unless he can beat a top-10 boxer rather than journeymen and those in the twilight of their careers.
Povetkin is now 39 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 fine power with a current knockout ratio of 67 per cent, but has just one stoppage in his last four fights as he was beaten by Joshua and taken the distance by Andriy Rudenko and Christian Hammer.
Still, Povetkin enters the ring with a fine record of 34-2 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 and Price rocked him in March. Povetkin won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics and has fought 231 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 means he gives up four inches in height and five inches in reach to Fury. His power is probably underrated as he’s quite a heavy puncher and Fury will need to be wary 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 never really been that popular outside of Europe but he’s been very consistent over the years. His experience and power make him hard to beat but he’s still 39 years old while Fury is 15 years younger and quite a bit bigger too. Povetkin has a puncher’s chance but Fury has displayed a solid chin up to now. The size difference means Povetkin’s going to have to work his way inside without getting nailed while doing so. This could go either way but Fury didn’t look good against veterans Peter and Pulev and Povetkin is better than both of them. As long as Povetkin’s not a shot fighter he has a shot here and I’ll give him a razor-thin edge.
