By John Dower: After watching the new International Boxing Federation mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (15-0, 11 KOs) struggle against American Eddie Chambers (30-1, 16 KOs) last Saturday night in Berlin, Germany, I’m starting to re-think the wisdom of IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (49-3, 44 KOs) of facing Povetkin when/if Wladimir defeats WBO heavyweight title holder Sultan Ibragimov next month on February 23rd. I’ve come to the conclusion that Povekin, 28, would be a mistake for Wladimir to fight, since Povetkin is clearly not ready for him, showing mostly average skills in struggling to beat Chambers, but worst of all, the fight will do nothing to enhance Klitschko’s reputation.

I see this fight going much like Wladimir’s 3rd round TKO destruction of an over-matched Ray Austin in March 2007. In fact, I think Austin might have the skills and size to beat Povetkin if they were to ever meet. A far better opponent than Povetkin, I think, would be for Klitschko to face the winner of WBC heavyweight champions Oleg Maskaev vs. Samuel Peter, a fight which takes place on March 8th. Most people safely assume that the winner of that bout with be Nigerian knockout artist Samuel Peter (29-1, 22 KOs), who Klitschko already defeated by an exciting 12-round unanimous decision in September 2005.

Naturally, Wladimir’s brother, former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, is penciled in to face the winner of Maskaev-Peter, but I don’t have much confidence that his body will make it through training and allow him to fight for the title. I see him injuring himself once again while training for the winner, and subsequently retiring from boxing rather than having to cancel out yet again. This would leave Wladimir free to take on the winner, which will likely be Peter, in a fight that will be the closest thing that Wladimir will come to fighting a mega-fight. Minus that, if Vitali does take the fight with the winner of Maskaev-Peter, Wladimir could fight instead the WBO #1 challenger, which is currently the 6’5″ Tony Thompson (31-1, 19 KOs). This, too, would be a better option than facing Povetkin, because I consider Thompson a far better fighter than Povetkin.

Thompson, 36, hasn’t been beaten in eight years, and has a 27-fight win streak going over that time. With his size and reach, he’d be able to give Klitschko a much tougher bout than the shorter, slower Povetkin. I also think the fight would generate more fan interest, considering that Thompson is an American. At least we’d not have to see the potential prospects of Wladimir quickly knocking out Povetkin in the first several rounds of the fight, which is what I see happening if Wladimir does indeed take the fight with Povetkin.

For his part, Povetkin just is too wide open, easy to hit, and stands directly in front of his opponents. His power, quite average, isn’t the type of power that traditionally gives Wladimir problems. Add to that, Povetkin’s poor stamina and tendency to swell up, and you see the likelihood of him getting blown of the ring by Klitschko in short order. Povetkin may be able to land a few shots and possibly mark Wladimir up, but he’d be right in Klitschko’s line of fire and would be taking tremendous punishment from him for as long as it lasts. As he showed against Chambers, Povetkin blocks very punches and is open for right hands down the middle. Wladimir probably wouldn’t even have to use his right, for his left jab/hook combination would probably suffice and put Povetkin in an early dream land.