By Eric Thomas: WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KO’s) will be fighting a tune-up bout on May 17th against an opponent still to be determined to get him ready for a big fight against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in a fight that will take place no longer than August.
According to resport.ru, the 33-year-old Povetkin will be facing a big heavyweight with height near that of the 6’6” Wladimir in order to get Povetkin as ready as possible to face the big Ukrainian. The trick is to find someone nearly as big as Wladimir but without the same talent because if they pick someone too good, Povetkin will likely lose.
It’s no secret that he’s a small heavyweight and he’s looked vulnerable in his recent fights. His promoters have put him in with two 40-year-olds and one cruiserweight in his three title defenses since capturing the World Boxing Association title with a 12 round unanimous decision win over Ruslan Chagaev in August of 2011.
Wladimir is fighting a stay busy fight as well against Francesco Pianeta on May 4th, but in this case Wladimir hasn’t picked out a fighter to get him ready for Povetkin.
The 6’5” Pianeta just seems to be someone picked out for Wladimir to get an easy win against in a title milking fight rather than a bout designed to help him get ready for a shorter, 6’2” all action heavyweight like Povetkin.
It may be that Wladimir really doesn’t need a tune-up to get him ready for Povetkin because the size difference between him and Povetkin should be more than enough to get an easy victory.
Povetkin’s promoters are going to have to be careful in selecting a tall tune-up opponent because there’s a danger there that if they pick someone too good he’ll end up getting beat.
Given the weak opposition that they’ve fed Povetkin so far, they’ll likely select someone like 39-year-old Kevin McBride or someone along those lines for Povetkin to fight.
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