By Scott Gilfoid: Peter Fury, the trainer for IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, is predicting an easy knockout win for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (36-0, 35 Kos) in his title defense against Alexander Povetkin (30-1, 22 KOs) on May 21 in Moscow, Russia.
Peter Fury thinks the 6’7” Wilder will be too big for the shorter 6’2” Povetkin, who will be giving up five inches in height and a whopping six inches in reach.
That’s a significant reach advantage for Wilder, but when you factor in that he likes to fight tall and move around the ring, it’s going to make it all but impossible for Povetkin to compete with a giant sized heavyweight like Deontay.
“Wilder’s getting better. He’s improving. I see him being too much for Povetkin,” said Peter Fury to Fighthype.com. “I see a stoppage as well. Povetkin’s just too small to deal with Wilder,” said Fury.
The bad news for Povetkin is that Deontay bulking up to the 240s. He’s been weighing in the high 220s for his fights, but he says he wants to look the part of being a heavyweight champion. He wants to add another 10 t0 20 pounds to his frame to get from 240 to 250.
The 6’6” Wladimir Klitschko started his career really lean like Deontay in the 220 region. But over the years, Wladimir bulked up to the low 240s and stayed there. If Deontay can add another 10 pounds during the training camp for this fight, then he’ll come into the ring in the 240s and it will definitely make him a handful for Povetkin to deal with in the ring.
I think Wilder would have beaten Povetkin eight years ago after he turned pro following the 2008 Olympics. Deontay’s right hand bombs would have been sheer pain for Povetkin to take, and I can’t see Povetkin being able to take too many of them without getting dropped for the 10 count.
Povetkin can set himself up for a big payday if he beats Deontay to win his WBC title, because that would put him in position to fight the likes of IBF champion Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury in a unification fight in the UK or in Russia.
The problem is that Povetkin has to get past Deontay to get one or both of those fights. That’s going to be next to impossible.
The Russian crowd is going to be cheering loudly for Povetkin in trying to motivate him to fight hard. I think it could be bad for Povetkin because he’s liable to do something stupid by trying to bum rush Deontay like he’s been doing with his mediocre opponents he’s been fighting recently. That might not be a good thing because Deontay has a straight right hand that he likes to shoot out to catch his opponents when they come straight at him like Povetkin likely will on May 21.
If Povetkin tries to box Deontay, he’s going to get jabbed to pieces with the American’s long reach. Povetkin has little chance but to attack him and that’s going to be bad.