Deontay Wilder says Povetkin is like Stiverne all over again

By Boxing News - 06/20/2015 - Comments

wilder5555(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Scott Gilfoid: WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) isn’t too worried about fighting his No.1 WBC challenger Alexander Povetkin (29-1, 21 KOs) in the near future. Wilder says that Povetkin is like another Bermane Stiverne, a 6’2” fighter that Wilder defeated by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision earlier this year in January.

Stiverne, as good as he is as a fighter, just wasn’t tall enough to land his hard power shots against Wilder. If Stiverne was 6’6” or 6’7”, he would have had a chance of winning, but he didn’t have the arm length or the height to connect to Wilder’s jaw.

“It’s Stiverne all over again’ for him,” Wilder said about Povetkin as quoted earlier today by Dan Rafael.

I have to agree with Deontay. Povetkin is just too short, and he can’t get his punches off when he fights taller guys. When Wladimir Klitschko fought Povetkin in October 2013, Povetkin couldn’t land anything. He was stuck on the outside and was as helpless as a baby. When Povetkin would attempt to shorten the range and get inside on Wladimir, he was immediately tied up by the big 6’6” Ukrainian.

You can imagine that Wilder will do the same exact thing that Wladimir did. He’s certainly not going to reinvent the wheel. Wladimir created the blueprint in how to beat Stiverne, and Wilder is simply going to follow it to the letter. That’s the beauty about Wilder. If you give him a game plan, he can follow it with excellent discipline without straying like other fighters do. Wilder is like a soldier. If you give him the battle plans, he’s going to follow it to the end.

“Wilder said he’s fighting again in late Sept and then will make mandatory vs Povetkin after that, when it’s due. #boxing,” Rafael said on his Twitter.

The September fight will be a tune-up/stay busy fight for Wilder to get him ready for the Povetkin fight next year. There’s going to be a likely purse bid in October for the Wilder-Povetkin fight, and then from there the fight will get scheduled in 2016. It’s likely going to take place in Russia if Povetkin’s promoter comes up with some big money to win the purse bid. It’s a big deal for Povetkin and his team because it’ll give him the opportunity to win the WBC heavyweight title and do it in front of his Russian fans in a likely venue in Moscow, Russia.

You can’t blame Wilder for wanting to take a stay busy fight in September, because it’s not as if Wilder is just going to sit and wait on Povetkin without fighting. Wilder is going to stay as active as possible at all times. Wilder is trying to increase his market brand in America in order to become a huge pay-per-view superstar. The best way for Wilder to accomplish that task is to fight as often as possible.

Povetkin has looked good as of late with wins over Carlos Takam, Manuel Charr and Mike Perez. However, none of those guys have the size, punching power or the talent that the 6’7” Wilder possesses, so the wins are kind of meaningless for Povetkin.



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