Tweet
By Cliff Rold - If you’ve heard of 28-year old 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Alexander Povetkin (13-0, 10 KO, unrated) of Tschechow, Russia, this Saturday, with no U.S. TV, is one of the biggest days of the 2007 boxing calendar.
If you’re asking “Who the hell is Alexander Povetkin?” then Saturday will determine whether that question is really worth answering.
Povetkin has underground buzz but, in only his fourteenth fight, is he really ready for the challenge in front of him? Even infrequent viewers know the name Chris Byrd (40-3, 21 KO); the 37-year old from Flint, Michigan has faced a laundry list of top heavyweights in the last ten years. Wins over Vitali Klitschko, David Tua and Evander Holyfield and runs with IBF and WBO belts get one’s name out there even if all Byrd’s efforts haven’t been scintillating.
Byrd after all has never been a heavyweight in the classic sense. He doesn’t land highlight reel KO’s or engage in wars. He jabs, slips, maneuvers. He boxes. It has extended his time near the top and his steady paychecks even if it has kept him away from the biggest dollars. With a crushing loss to Wladimir Klitschko in the spring of 2006, a loss to the on-paper novice Povetkin could end all that.
At another time, ‘could’ would be ‘would,’ but these are the heavyweights of 2007 so skepticism is easy to come by. Parity, and in some sense apathy, has kept the pool of big men shallow and recycling. Povetkin, of all the division’s prospects and rising contenders, is in the best position to turn skepticism into hope for the future.
With so few fights, there are still more questions than answers. Can Povetkin take a shot? Don’t know. Will he, at 6’2 and around 225 lbs, be able to handle much bigger men like Nicolay Valuev? Don’t know. Can he handle an elite, slick, veteran boxer? Again, don’t know. [details]
If you’re asking “Who the hell is Alexander Povetkin?” then Saturday will determine whether that question is really worth answering.
Povetkin has underground buzz but, in only his fourteenth fight, is he really ready for the challenge in front of him? Even infrequent viewers know the name Chris Byrd (40-3, 21 KO); the 37-year old from Flint, Michigan has faced a laundry list of top heavyweights in the last ten years. Wins over Vitali Klitschko, David Tua and Evander Holyfield and runs with IBF and WBO belts get one’s name out there even if all Byrd’s efforts haven’t been scintillating.
Byrd after all has never been a heavyweight in the classic sense. He doesn’t land highlight reel KO’s or engage in wars. He jabs, slips, maneuvers. He boxes. It has extended his time near the top and his steady paychecks even if it has kept him away from the biggest dollars. With a crushing loss to Wladimir Klitschko in the spring of 2006, a loss to the on-paper novice Povetkin could end all that.
At another time, ‘could’ would be ‘would,’ but these are the heavyweights of 2007 so skepticism is easy to come by. Parity, and in some sense apathy, has kept the pool of big men shallow and recycling. Povetkin, of all the division’s prospects and rising contenders, is in the best position to turn skepticism into hope for the future.
With so few fights, there are still more questions than answers. Can Povetkin take a shot? Don’t know. Will he, at 6’2 and around 225 lbs, be able to handle much bigger men like Nicolay Valuev? Don’t know. Can he handle an elite, slick, veteran boxer? Again, don’t know. [details]
Comment