Povetkin vs. 49-year-old Holyfield on December 17th in Zurich, Switzerland – Rumor mill

By Boxing News - 08/29/2011 - Comments

Image: Povetkin vs. 49-year-old Holyfield on December 17th in Zurich, Switzerland - Rumor millBy Dan Ambrose: It looks like new WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (22-0, 15 KO’s) won’t be taking any chances by fighting a dangerous opponent for his title defense. According to the latest boxing news rumors from the Bild, the 31-year-old Povetkin will be fighting former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KO’s) on December 17th in Zurich, Switzerland. Holyfield is like a fossil at this point. He’s far too old to win.

The one problem getting into the way of this fight getting made is the fact the currently 48-year-old Holyfield [he turns 49 in October] isn’t ranked in the top 15 by the WBA or any of the other major sanctioning bodies. I’m sure that will be taken care of very quickly, because these things have a way of working out.

This would be an easy money fight for Povetkin, because Holyfield is absolutely no threat to him. At this point, Holyfield is struggling to beat journeyman. A fighter like Povetkin will easily beat him. This gives Holyfield yet another chance to capture a title. He says he wants to unify all the heavyweight titles before he retires. Well, this his chance to capture the first of the four titles he’s going to need before he finally hangs up the gloves.

Unfortunately, Holyfield won’t win. He already was given title shots against World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov in October 2007, and WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev in December 2008, losing both fights. Now he’s getting a third shot. What makes Holyfield so irresistible to promoters is his name value and the fact that he’s little threat to their champions. In this case, Holyfield will be fighting his third paper champion and will likely lose badly but at the same time attracting interest.

Povetkin defeated Ruslan Chagaev by a 12 round decision last Saturday night, but didn’t look at all impressive. He did, however, look more than good enough to beat the likes of Holyfield.



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