By Erik Schmidt: Looking as if he wanted to be anywhere rather than the boxing ring, journeyman Taurus Sykes (25-5-1, 7 KOs) was stopped in the 4th round of a scheduled 10-round bout tonight by IBF number #1 ranked contender Alexander Povetkin 16-0, 12 KOs) at the Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, in Chekhov, Russia. Sykes, 33, whose body language seemed to indicate that he wasn’t interested in fighting, was eventually taken out by Povetkin in the 4th after the Russian landed two consecutive right hooks, neither of which landed flush, but none the less sent Sykes down. He stayed down for the count, only attempting to get up after the referee had counted him out at 0:48 of the 4th round. The win sets up Povetkin, the IBF mandatory challenger, for bout with heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko likely later on this year.
Povetkin, 28, a former 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist for Russia, whose biggest problem in the fight was catching up to the constantly running and clinching Sykes, who made it tough for Povetkin in the first three rounds to land his powerful punches. However, Povetkin adapted well to Sykes’ defensive posture by charging at him frequently and landing two to three shots before being clinched by Sykes.
Not having fought for the past 13 months, seems to have hurt Sykes, because he looked much less impressive in this fight than he had in his last fight, a 10-round unanimous decision loss to Hasim Rahman in June 2007. Povetkin throwing any harder or as often as Rahman did in his bout with Sykes. But for some reason, Sykes looked not properly motivated to fight hard tonight compared how he had looked against Rahman.
Although listed as 6’2″, Povetkin looked noticeably shorter than Sykes, who also is listed as 6’2″, which makes me think that Povetkin is closer to 6’1″ than his listed height. In the first round, Sykes was able to land his jab frequently as Povetkin would come plodding forward slowly, and would catch him often before he could move in to land his own shots. When Povetkin would work his way in close, Sykes would expertly tie him up in a clinch. This happened again and again in the round up until the last minute of the round when Povetkin landed some hard right hands. On one occasion, an exasperated Povetkin tagged Sykes on the break. The referee did nothing but look on, giving no warning or deducting points.
In the 2nd round, Sykes continued to use his excellent jab to hit Povetkin from long range. Sykes was not only a little taller than Povetkin at 6’2″, but his arms were much longer, allowing him to fight well at long distance, much better than the shorter-armed Povetkin could. As in the previous round, Sykes clinched often, keeping Povetkin from landing his powerful combinations. While in a clinch, Povetkin resorted to holding and hitting, trying to land punches any way he could. Early in the round, Sykes backed up to the ropes, at which point Povetkin came charging forward at full speed and partially rammed into Sykes while hitting him with a right hand, sending him to the canvas.
However, the referee ruled that he had tripped over the bottom rope, and that he hadn’t been knocked down by a punch. It looked almost as if he had knocked him down, but the fact that he bumped him like a football player seemed to hurt his case for a knockdown. The charging attack was something that Povetkin would use for the remainder of the bout, sometimes effectively, other times leaving him wide open for counter shots. Later on in the round, Sykes sunk down to the canvas while in a clinch after taking a body shot.
It wasn’t ruled a knockdown, but it looked badly as if Sykes wanted out of the bout. It’s not clear why, though, because he was fighting well when he let his hands go, hitting Povetkin with some good jabs. However, Sykes appeared to be bothered by the shots from Povetkin, even if he wasn’t getting hit a whole lot due to his running and clinching defensive tactics.
In the 3rd round, Sykes started off the round moving laterally, and then uncharacteristically attempted to throw a right hand, but badly missed a wild looping right hand. Povetkin then came forward and began landing some powerful combinations to the head, and for the remainder of the round, he pounded Sykes without stop around the ring. By this time, Sykes was no longer running or clinching, and was just taking punishment from Povetkin.
Instead of using his boxing skills to avoid Povetkin, Sykes looked as if he had given up entirely and was only waiting for the end to come. At the end of the round, Sykes held onto the ring ropes, facing the audience and looking both hurt and very frustrated, as if he didn’t know what to do against Povetkin. In between rounds, Sykes looked totally defeated, and seemed not too particularly eager about coming out for the 4th round.
The fight was over almost immediately in the 4th, as Povetkin moved forward and landed a brief combination, causing Sykes to move backwards towards the corner. He then charged forward, throwing two wide hooks, both of them barely hitting Sykes to the head, yet sending him down as if he were hit by howitzer. He then stayed down as the referee counted him out. Afterwards he got up, looking somewhat uneasy, though very clear-eyed for someone that was knocked out.
I can’t say I was very impressed with Povetkin’s performance, however. He looked slow, short, and wide open with his attacks, and very beatable. If a short fighter like Sykes can keep Povetkin on the outside using his jab, and foiling his attacks by clinching him when Povetkin comes in close, Wladimir will have a very easy time doing the same. If Povetkin tries bum rushing Wladimir as he did frequently with Sykes tonight. Wladimir will pick him off with a left hook and probably take him out in the early rounds. Povetkin needs to work more on his boxing skills if he has any hopes of beating Wladimir. If not, he’s going to get taken out quickly.