By Eric Thomas: IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (60-3, 51 KO’s) and WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (26-0, 18 KO’s) have reportedly agreed to terms for a fight on October 5th at the Olimpiyskiy, in Moscow, Russia. The negotiations had dragged out for months before finally the two sides agreeing to make the fight happen. There was too much money on the table for the fight not to happen.
The fight will pit two former Olympic gold medalists, Wladimir, the Ukrainian gold medalist, and Povetkin, the Russian gold medalist, against each other in Moscow.
Wladimir liked the idea of the fight being staged in Moscow because then Russian and Ukrainian fans would be able to come see the fight. Wladimir has been mostly fighting in Germany since turning pro in 1996, so this will be an opportunity for him to be seen by his Russian fans.
Povetkin, 6’2”, 225, has held the WBA heavyweight title since 2011, but his promoters have been pretty selective in the opponents he’s faced since he won the belt. Povetkin has beaten the following heavyweights since he picked up the title: Hasim Rahman, Andrzej Wawrzyk, Marco Huck, and Cedric Boswell. Rahman and Boswell are both in their 40s, Huck is a cruiserweight, and Wawrzyk had never fought anyone in the 1st tier before he was selected by Povetkin’s promoters to fight him.
Povetkin has been matched more like a fringe contender than a world champion, and it’s going to be interesting to see how well he does against a good fighter like Wladimir. Considering how poor Povetkin looked in his narrow win over Huck last year, it’s likely that Povetkin will be toyed with and then knocked out by Wladimir.
Wladimir hasn’t done much with his career since his big win over David Haye two years ago. It’s been one easy fight after another, and it’s unknown why Wladimir hasn’t taken on better heavyweights. He easily could have given Haye a rematch, because that would certainly have been a better fight than the guys that Wladimir has faced since his win over Haye.
Wladimir has faced and beaten the following heavyweights since his win over Haye: Jean Marc Mormeck, Tony Thompson, Mariusz Wach, and Francesco Pianeta. Those were all mismatches and not interesting fights to watch.
The Wladimir vs. Povetkin fight should interest Europe, but America is a different story. American hardcore boxing fans have seen Povetkin fight, and they’ll likely not see this as a competitive fight.
HBO could possibly show the Wladimir-Povetkin fight in the U.S, but it’s difficult to imagine casual boxing fans showing much interest in the fight because Povetkin is an unknown with these fans, and Wladimir has had too many boring mismatches when his fights have been televised in the U.S.
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