Former WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew is expecting IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to demolish Alexander Povetkin in the first few rounds of the upcoming contest.
Joshua vs. Povetkin is being positioned to take place on September 22.
Povetkin was in action back in March, when he scored a brutal fifth round knockout over David Price at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. In the main event of that card, Joshua won a twelve round unanimous decision over Joseph Parker.
Bellew does not believe Povetkin is the same boxer without performance enhancing drugs.
In fact, he believes Povetkin is a completely different kind of fighter under PEDs and finds him extremely dangerous with the user of enhancers.
But without PEDs, Bellew feels Povetkin is an ordinary fighter who Joshua will crush in a handful of rounds.
As they prepare for their showdown, both Joshua and Povetkin have enrolled in VADA's drug testing protocol.
Two years ago, Bellew was beating the drugs for Povetkin to receive a lifetime ban from the sport.
Back in 2016, Povetkin was scheduled to fight WBC world champion Deontay Wilder. Two weeks before the contest could take place, Povetkin had failed a drugs test when he tested positive for meldonium. And then in December of the same year, he was scheduled to fight former world champion Bermane Stiverne for the interim WBC heavyweight title. And that fight was called off when Povetkin tested positive for ostarine.
"He’s a completely different man when he’s on drugs. I have no problem saying, I would absolutely annihilate Povetkin if he wasn’t on drugs. But if he’s on drugs I haven’t got a hope. That’s the harsh reality. Joshua has proved he can navigate his way through a 12-round fight without any hiccups. Anthony Joshua will resume normal service against Povetkin, return to being the guy who goes in there looking for the knockout. He’s the guy who goes in there and takes the gamble looking for the knockout," Bellew told The Metro.
"No one wants to see a 12-round match, two fighters playing chess. They turn up to see blood, guts and someone going to sleep. Joshua has done that time and time again, and I believe he’ll deliver that when he faces Povetkin. I think he’ll absolutely obliterate him. Smash him in three or four rounds at most. Price was five seconds away from ending Povetkin. It was just that the bell saved him. He was doing a backstroke in a boxing ring, so that tells you how hard Price hits and how vulnerable Povetkin is. He still had a heavy leg when he came out the next round, but it didn’t work out for Price.
"Povetkin is a different man when he’s on drugs and I say this because I know sparring partners who have been in his camp. They have openly said to me, ‘he’s a ferocious animal, when he’s on drugs’ but they see and feel the difference sparring him when he isn’t on them."