Alexander Povetkin vs. Mike Perez on May 22nd in Moscow, Russia

By Boxing News - 04/28/2015 - Comments

povetkin565By Allan Fox: #1 WBC heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin (28-1, 20 KOs) will be looking to cement his position as the top contender for the WBC title when he faces #2 WBC Mike Perez (21-1, 13 KOs) on May 22nd in a WBC heavyweight eliminator bout at the Luzhniki Arena in Moscow, Russia.

The winner of this fight will become the WBC mandatory challenger to champion Deontay Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs).

For the 35-year-old former WBA heavyweight champion and 2004 super heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Povetkin this is his second consecutive tough match-up. He’s coming off of a 10th round knockout win over contender Carlos Takam last October in Moscow to capture the WBC Silver heavyweight title. Takam was a tough opponent for Povetkin, but he took care of him well by out-boxing him until he scored a stoppage in the 10th.

Perez, 29, was beaten last year by Bryant Jennings in losing a narrow 12 round split decision. Perez looked good for the first six rounds before running out of gas in the second half of the fight and losing by a narrow decision. Perez rebounded from that defeat to defeat 40-year-old journeyman Darnell Wilson by a 2nd round knockout last February.

In other action on the Povetkin-Perez card, WBC cruiserweight champ Grigory Drozd (39-1, 27 KOs) will be facing former WBC champ Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (49-3, 35 KOs). The two fighters faced each other last September in 2014. In that fight, the Russian Drozd caused Wlodarczyk to take a knee in the 8th round. It was a good fight, but Drozd was clearly the better guy all throughout.

Also on the card is #1 WBC cruiserweight contender and 2008 heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Rakhim Chakhkiev (22-1, 17 KOs) facing Mirko Larghetto (22-1-0, 14 KOs). Chakhkiev, 32, is looking to get another world title shot, as he was stopped in the 8th round by former WBC cruiserweight champion Wlodarczyk in June 2013.

Chakhkiev has since won his last six fights with five of the wins coming by stoppage. His last victory was an impressive 4th round knockout win over Valery Brudov earlier this month.

Unbeaten #5 WBC, #6 WBA, #12 IBF cruiserweight slugger Dmitry Kudryashov (17-0, 17 KOs) will be looking to stay undefeated with a Vikapita Meroro (28-4, 14 KOs). Kudryashov, 29, recently destroyed Francisco Palacios by a 1st round knockout earlier this month.

Former heavyweight world title challenger Manuel Charr (27-3, 16 KOs) will be facing former world title challenger Alex Leapai (30-6-3, 24 KOs) in a crossroads fight for both of them.



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