Watching Klit vs. Povetkin 1st Time - Thoughts

Round 1: 15 clinches, 1 throwdown Wlad 10-9 Summary: BOTH guys responsible for the clinching. Povetkin rushes in and immediately wraps his left arm around Wlad, allowing Wlad to pin it with his arm. Povetkin seems to WANT to clinch and Wlad obliges him Round 2: 10 clinches Summary: Povetkin initiating most of the clinches to my eyes. Povetkin landed some good shots. Winning the round but then gets knocked down like an idiot off a short hook. 10-8 round for Wlad. Round 3: 10 clinches. Summary: Hard round to score neither did much and there was probably more clinches than power punches thrown so I give it to Povetkin based on sheer aggression since Wlad was running and Povetkin was actually pursuing/throwing. 10-9 to povetkin (29-26 Wlad) Round 4: 14 clinches Summary: Incredibly the round opens with a clinch before the sound of the opening bell even dies down. And ironically the round final bell rings with both fighters in a clinch. Almost nothing happened this round at all and it's impossible to score. Only thing I know is Povetkin's aggression was utterly ineffective and Wlad at least landed some good jabs so I'm forced to give it to Wlad as much as I don't want to. 10-9 Wlad (39-35 Wlad) Round 5: 16 clinches. Record breaking clinch round. Summary: Wlad lands the much harder shots as usual and Povetkin's aggression is mostly ineffective as he gets on the inside and does absolutely nothing and seems to WANT to clinch out of fear for his own safety. Not enough people giving Wlad credit for his punch slipping abilities here. He's looking like Mayweather at times dodging Povetkin's looping shots. 10-9 Wlad (49-44) Round 6: 15 clinches Summary: Wlad employing the check hook here and actually makes several attempts to GET AWAY from Povetkin's clinching by jumping back and hooking but Povetkin still continues to do more than his share in chasing down Wlad and initiating the clinch by immediately wrapping his left arm around Wlad's torso. Wlad lands some nice hooks here and Povetkin once again is completely ineffective. I see very little of the "uncomfortableness" people claimed they saw in Wlad, to me he's calmly dominating the ineffective one dimensional attack of Povetkin. 10-9 Wlad (59-53) Round 7: 12 clinches. Summary: Wlad lands some rocking shots but then throws Povetkin on the floor. Hard to say if this is a legit knockdown without seeing slowmo replay. Again Wlad rocks him with extremely hard shots. Wlad very aggressively mauling Povetkin and seems to LEGITLY knock him down this 2nd time as Povetkin was being clearly hurt from what I saw. Klitschko showing great inside fighting abilities for a few bursts where he throws crazy uppercuts (first time in my life seeing him throw some??). Another knockdown....hard to say again...hurting, rocking shots landed BUT the fall is from an elbow strike to the face. Actually exciting round, didn't even notice the clinches. Wlad was extremely superior here. 3 round downs, I guess that's a 10-6 for Wlad (69-59) Round 8: 17 clinches. Record breaking clinch round. Summary: Klitschko seemed to punch himself out last round as he's taking this one off and Povetkin showing urgency and good aggression. Klitschko did nothing this round and Povetkin's aggression was mostly ineffective other than in landing clinches but he still did a little more. 10-9 Povetkin. (78-69) Round 9: 14 clinches. Summary: Wlad seems to stun him with a shot then pushes him down. Not counted a knockdown although ironically I thought THIS one could have been a knockdown at least more so than some of the others. Wlad lands good head snapping jabs and one or two crisp left hooks here. Povetkin wildly misses a bunch of hooks. Definitely clear Wlad round. 10-9 (88-78) Round 10: 17 clinches. Record tying clinch round although the last clinch may have been after the bell so not sure if it counts. Summary: Wlad bouncing like Ali and landing headsnapping labs. Povetkin chasing him around the ring ineffectively. Wlad catching the much shorter Povetkin's hooks on his shoulders. Wlad showing great stamina to me, still bouncing and throwing and not breathing heavy. Hard round to score as both were effective in spots but Wlad landed the much cleaner jabs, I don't give pity rounds just because the weaker opponent "tried" but was still outdone. 10-9 Wlad (98-87) Round 11: 15 clinches. ANOTHER clinch after the bell. These guys have such love for clinching tonight they even decide to embrace after the bell rings. Summary: Klitschko with one great combo and then a push/elbow combo that knockdown and hurt Povetkin. This was the point deducting combo. Povetkin was aggressive this round but still simply did not do much because he can't land anything on Wlad. 10-9 Wlad (108-96) Round 12: 18 clinches. Another clinch after the bell. Record breaking clinch round it's only fitting they break the clinch record on the very final round of the fight. Summary: Not much effective action. Wlad hip tosses Povetkin into the ropes and on the floor again. No one was really effective. Povetkin threw more and showed more aggression but was extremely ineffective and was not the 'ring general' although maybe I'll give this round to him since I don't think Wlad did anything at all either. 10-9 Povetkin. (117-106 final) score. Final score: 117-106 Klitschko Total Hugstat numbers: 173 clinches. This averages to 14.42 clinches a round or 1 clinch every 12.5 seconds on average. Final thoughts: Contrary to some peoples' beliefs. I did not believe this fight was that bad. It was mildly exciting and somewhat somewhat entertaining at times. I have seen far worse, and the clinches were not the most annoying type because they were clean and broken up quickly. Wlad showed tremendous athleticism to me and was at no point "bothered" by Povetkin or "uncomfortable" as some lesser informed posters seemed to imply. To me Wlad seemed very comfortable, handled Povetkin easily and most of the clinches were mutually initiated by Povetkin. Wlad showed great stamina to me here and was at no time in the fight "gassed" like some members were saying ("He's tiring himself out just from the clinches!"). I seem to have a contrary view to a lot of people but I think many people here do not know much about boxing. This fight was no where near as bad as some claim, like I said it was a mildly entertaining and somewhat exciting to watch due to the fact that 2 very technically proficient tacticians were battling it out for supremacy. I wasn't a great fight but it was not even close to the worst I've seen.