I thought that he was just an above average HW who won a gold medal in a bad Olympic class.After watching him fight after the Vladdy KO ass-kicking, I am starting to see just really how good this guy really is!!! I watched like 8-9 of his fights prior to Vladdy KO fight...but the 2 fights afterwards have been dynamite HW scraps where he has KO'd two top 12 HW late in fights. You all know the old adage in boxing...special fighters score late KO's.I can see him being a big player in the 1990's-early 2000's HW scene which was the best ever and see him a legit top 3 HW right now.
What are your thoughts on Povetkin?
Very good fighter when he is in shape. Exceptional combination puncher, when he lets his hands go its a thing of beauty.
Pretty much.
He should be a lot better than he has shown. He definitely has talent
He's alright. One of the few fighters at heavyweight who I watch and see real talent and skill. I hate how he got completely screwed over against Wlad.
2nd best HW in the world after Wlad and has had some great fights. Unfortunately for a lot of people the Wlad fight was the only one they saw and it was a real dud.
He's pretty good. Great combination punching, good HW speed, some power, average defense. Definitely a top 5 HW.
The years with Teddy Atlas hurt him somewhat though. He fought absolute bums for years and didn't improve at all. If anything, he regressed.
Povetkin is pretty damn good. The Vlad fight was a joke.. Thats when I became a fan. He fought his heart out but Vlad had to hold him and lean on him after EVERY punch he threw. It was disgusting to watch
To be honest, never rated him before the Wlad fight, and he didn't prove any of the hype there either...although of course he wasn't exactly allowed to...but I dunno, he always seemed a bit sloppy and not really ever in great shape. In his last few fights I think he has performed much better, showed he has good power and showed his boxing skills. And he is getting in better shape. If he keeps racking up wins v contenders, no reason why he can't get a Wlad rematch, hopefully with a better ref this time.
And maybe hosted in Ukraine, Wladdy is due a big stadium fight at home...I think he could easily pack in 75,000+ in the Olympic stadium...