Deontay Wilder not worried about Alexander Povetkin

By Boxing News - 01/17/2016 - Comments

wilder899(Photo credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment) By Tim Fletcher: #1 WBC mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) was in attendance last Saturday night to watch WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder’s title defense against Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Wilder dispatched Szpilka in the 9th round with a mighty right hand that left the Polish fighter not moving on the canvas. Povetkin will now be the next fighter that Wilder faces unless the World Boxing Council allows the 6’7” champion to veer around the 36-year-old Povetkin to fight a unification match against either IBF champion Charles Martin or the winner of the Tyson Fury vs. Wladimir Klitschko. For the time being, it looks like Wilder will be facing Povetkin next.

“I’m super confident of that fight,” Wilder said about facing Povetkin. “I’ve been waiting for Povetkin for a very long time. I’m looking forward to him too. I got a lot of voluntaries out of the way. I’m looking for my mandatory as well too. I’m glad he [Povetkin] was here to take notes. We all know styles make fights, and I’m looking forward to it. I’m very confident with him and anybody I’m going to get in the ring with. My goal is to be the undisputed champion of the world, and that’s my mission. He [Povetkin] should take notes on everything. Don’t take nothing for granted. Different fighters bring different things,” Deontay said.

Wilder says he does not want to face Povetkin in his home country of Russia, because he feels that he should come to the United States to challenge him for his titles rather than the fight taking place over there. Wilder says Russia is too cold and he does not want to fight there.

“I’ve already been to Russia,” Wilder said. “It’s time to welcome him [Povetkin] to the United States of America. I don’t think he’s fought in America yet. I’m looking forward to getting him out of his zone and coming to America. It’s too cold in Russia,” said Wilder.

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It’s still very possible that Wilder and Povetkin fight could wind up in Russia unless their promoters can successfully negotiate the fight. If it goes to a purse bid, then it’s quite possible that the fight will end up being won by one of the wealthy Russian promoters and the fight would then take place somewhere in Russia. Deontay says he doesn’t mind fighting in front of hostile crowds, because he doesn’t take notice of the cheering and screaming. Deontay focuses entirely on his opponent.

For Povetkin, this could be his last chance to win another world title. He’s getting up there in age at 36, and there is a younger, fresher crop of heavyweights that have popped up that could push him downwards in the rankings.

Povetkin would have problems against the younger heavyweights like Anthony Joshua, Joseph Parker and Dillian Whyte. Those guys have better punching power than him, and have a lot more size on him. Most importantly, they are all much younger than Povetkin and do not have the same kind of mileage on them that Povetkin has from his many years in the sport.



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