As a rising heavyweight with a sterling amateur record — including Super Heavyweight gold at the Athens Olympics — Alexander Povetkin used to be one of the boxers fight fans hoped would inject some excitement into the moribund heavyweight division by giving at least one of the two Klitschko brothers a real challenge. Although only 6’2″ and weighing in the upper 220s, Povetkin showed promise as a well-trained, well-rounded boxer puncher. Furthermore, the way he crashed the Top Ten during the IBF’s elimination tournament for their #1 contender’s status actually succeeded in generating some excitement. The Russian first made an admittedly faded Chris Byrd quit in the 11th, and then went on to hand undefeated Eddie Chambers his first loss.
After that, however, it has become fairly plain that Povetkin’s career has gone into retrograde. In earning the IBF’s #1 contender status, Povetkin became the mandatory challenger to Wladimir Klitschko. That fight should have taken place by now, but Povetkin first postponed and then pulled out of the fight. The price was being knocked out of the Top 10 by the IBF. In the meantime, the Russian has fought a succession of four journeymen and no-hopers.
It is probable that Povetkin’s trainer, Teddy Atlas, realized that his charge simply was not ready to challenge big Wlad just yet. Wins over Larry Donald, Byrd and Chambers show that Povetkin can handle slick boxers, but say nothing about his ability to handle top punchers or truly gigantic heavyweights. Matching him up with some big guys who can punch would be a start, guys like Shannon Briggs, Lance Whitaker or Sam Peter. Some of those guys have busy dance cards, but surely others are available. What about Sultan Ibragimov, who hasn’t fought since 2008, or Nikolai Vaulev, who has been inactive for a full year now? Surely someone more worthy than Javier Mora could have been put on Povetkin’s agenda through the course of 2009 and 2010.
If Povetkin is ever going to make a splash in the heavyweight division, he needs to move forward and fight some top guys. If he isn’t ready for the Klitschkos, fine, but Povetkin must mix it up with some other “name” guys. At this stage in his career, if Alexander Povetkin is not moving forward, then he must be stepping backwards instead.
