By Jason Kim: In a stay busy fight, number #1 ranked IBF challenger undefeated Alexander Povetkin (15-0, 11 KOs) will face journeyman fighter Taurus Sykes (25-4-1, 7 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout on July 19th at the Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, in Chekhov, Russia. Povetkin, 28, has been forced to wait on IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who instead of defending his IBF heavyweight title against the well deserving Povetkin, he’s opted instead to take on what many boxing fans and experts feel is the easier fight against heavyweight Tony Thompson, Wladimir’s #1 ranked contender for his WBO heavyweight title.
Povetkin, the 2004 Gold medal winner in the 2004 Olympic Games, is a 6’2″ and looks short for compared to many of today’s top heavyweights. However, Povetkin makes up for it by applying constant pressure against his foes, keeping them under constant fire at close range with heavy shots to the body and head. He’s not a particularly hard puncher by any stretch of the imagination, instead beating most of his opponents by a constant withering fire that he never lets up on for a moment. His style of fighting, all out aggression, may need to be stepped back at some point in the near future because Povetkin has looked badly fatigued in bouts against Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers.
The fight against Chambers, the final of the IBF tournament for the right to be Wladimir Klitschko’s mandatory challenger, was much closer than the final scores would indicate (117-111, 119-109 and 116-112) as both fighters had their moments in the bout. Povetkin, however, looked visibly tired as early as the 5th round, gasping for breath constantly, mouth open and not having the same energy as he did a year earlier when he was impressively beating fighters like Larry Donald and David Bostice. Perhaps Povetkin, a short squarish built heavyweight, always did have issues with his stamina, but it’s only now being discovered since he’s being forced to fight longer due to the higher opposition he’s facing. Nevertheless, he didn’t exactly shine against Chambers and it came out to more of what Chambers wasn’t doing – fighting hard – than a case of Povetkin looking good.
Povetkin’s stamina issues likely won’t be a problem against the 33 year-old Sykes, who’s lost three out of his last five fights. Sykes is a good fighter, but not one that will remotely give Povetkin any real test. It’s a bout that Povetkin will be able to fight at a much slower pace, staying close to Sykes and grinding it out on the inside. Sykes, however, can be a problem if you give him time to get off his own shots and allow him to set up his offense. He’s not a particularly hard puncher, but like in his bout against an out of shape Hasim Rahman on June 7th, 2007, Sykes can be a handful if you let him stick around.
Sykes, though, is vulnerable in the early rounds if you bring big heat as he’s demonstrated with knockout losses to Samuel Peter (2nd round TKO) and Derek Bryant (4th round TKO). Hopefully, Povetkin doesn’t try to steamroll over Sykes, because Povetkin really could use the rounds since he hasn’t fought in five months. Plus, Povetkin still will have to wait for his bout with Wladimir a lot longer, perhaps not getting a chance to face him until late 2008, possibly early 2009. Wladimir appears to be in no rush to fight him, judging by the fact that he chose to face Thompson instead of him.
Povetkin needs to use this time and stay sharp, working on his stamina issues and focus on working on his sloth-like foot movement. Povetkin is somewhat of a plodder and the style doesn’t seem to fit him given his good – not great – punching power. Eventually, without good movement or big punches, Povetkin will run into a heavyweight with good power (who knows? Maybe Wladimir) that will take advantage of his slow plodding style of fighting by taking his head off with monstrous shots. Indeed, Povetkin was hit a lot by hard shots from Chambers, not a big puncher, in their last fight. It didn’t look pretty and Povetkin’s face was badly swelled up by the end of the bout, making him look more like a loser than a winner.