By Mark Vester
At the Burg-Waechter Castello in Düsseldorf, Germany, a battle of heavyweight Olympians saw Alexander Povetkin (17-0, 12KOs) win a ten round unanimous decision over Jason Estrada (15-2, 3KOs). The scores were 99-94, 98-92 and 97-93.
The first six rounds were rough, with Estrada being a much tougher opponent than many expected. He was showing obvious signs of ring rust and seemed to be a little tired in the late stages. Estrada was landing some good counters when timing Povetkin’s combinations. Povetkin was a little bit more active and landed the better combinations during their exchanges.
In the eight, Povetkin was able to control the action, landing hard lefts and rights to Estrada’s chin. The ninth was more of the same, with Povetkin landing accurate punches. Estrada was not active enough and his punches were not hard enough to hurt Povetkin - even when landing flush. If Estrada had more power in his punches, he may have been able to do some damage because he landed some very good punches in the fight.
The tenth and final round saw both fighters landing most of their punches at close range. In the final minute, a combination seemed to rock Estrada. Povetkin tried to finish him off. Estrada survived, holding on until the final sound of the bell
It’s not exactly a lock for Povetkin to land a shot at the IBF title. If David Haye upsets Klitschko on June 20, then the two of them will either have a rematch or Haye will face WBC champion Vitali Klitschko. Povetkin, per the IBF, is supposed to get his title shot by September. The winner of Klitschko-Haye would have to fight him or get stripped.
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