Alexander Povetkin v Manuel Charr this Friday

By Gavin Duthie - 05/26/2014 - Comments

charr435By Gav Duthie: With all the recent Froch-Groves hype its easy to forget that Alexander Povetkin 26-1 (18) takes on Manuel Charr 26-1 (15) in Moscow, Russia this Friday night. 

In order to avoid fighting for any of Wladimir Klitschko’s titles these two evenly matched heavyweights are adding their names to the long line targeting the WBC belt currently held by Bermaine Stiverne. The WBC international gong is on the line for the winner and would significantly move either fighter up the pecking order for a mandatory position with Stiverne. Manuel Charr is currently rated no. 6 and Povetkin is not yet rated as he was recently the WBA champ. However big bookies favourite Povetkin (1/6) would move right near the top with a win over Charr. 

With wins for Povetkin over the likes of Chris Byrd, Eddie Chambers, Marco Huck, Hasim Rahman and Ruslan Chagaev only the Klitschko’s themselves can boast better quality opponents. 

The Wladimir factor

However it is imperative that Povetkin gets over his loss to Wladimir Klitschko in his last outing as many boxers have struggled to get back to their best after they fight him. 

Povetkin may have made the final bell but after barely landing anything all night, being held down and knocked down four times he looked a sorry challenger at the end. Of many of Wlad’s recent victims few have went on to make successful returns. He doesn’t just knock his opponents out he systematically beats them up and demoralizes them which is hard to come back from. 

Mariusz Wach challenged Wlad in November 2012. He was beaten in all 12 rounds for his first career defeat and has never fought since. Before that in March 2012 he stopped Jean Marc Mormeck in 4 rounds which was also his last fight. David Haye has fought only once since his loss to Wladimir in 2011. Sam Peter retired one bout after his second Klitschko loss and Sultan Ibragimov also immediately retired after he lost to the Ukrainian. 

Povetkin needs to convince himself that bar Wladimir he is the best heavyweight out there. Manuel Charr’s only loss to date came against Wlad’s brother Vitaly. Despite a controversial stoppage loss for Charr in the 4th round and a fight with David Haye being postponed immediately after he has more than got his career back on track. He has won 5 fights since including a landslide decision against skillful American heavyweight Kevin Johnson just last month. 

Charr is definitely ready for this opportunity and unless Povetkin is fully back to his best then Charr can undoubtedly upset the Russian in his home country. 



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