Joshua predicts 8th round knockout of Povetkin – Anthony Joshua vs Alexander Povetkin

By Boxing News - 09/21/2018 - Comments

YouTube video

By Tim Royner: Weights from London: Anthony Joshua 245.3 vs. Alexander Povetkin 222 — IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) is getting ready for his title defense against WBA champion Alexander Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs) this Saturday night at Wembley Stadium in London, England.

Joshua, 28, is ready for one of his toughest of his career. Both fighters are Olympic gold medalists. Povetkin won a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics, and Joshua won his gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics, albeit in a controversial manner.

Joshua vs. Povetkin will be televised in the UK for paying boxing fans on Sky Box Office pay-per-view, and streamed on DAZN in the U.S for fans that subscribe to the $10 per month subscription service. The start time for the Joshua-Povetkin streaming fight in the States is at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT.

That’s not exactly the best time to stream a fight. If Hearn plans on turning Joshua into a star in the U.S, then he’s going to need to have his fights streamed during a time where the American boxing fans normally tune in to watch fights in the evening.

There will be a big crowd on hand to see Joshua and Povetkin mix it up. Povetkin responded the last time he fought in front of a big crowd in his fight against 6’8” David Price on March 31 on the undercard of Joshua’s fight against Joseph Parker.

This might be an even harder fight than his match against Wladimir Klitschko in 2017. Povetkin. 39, has punching power to stop Joshua. Joshua’s plan is to not let Povetkin get started with his offense. He wants to knock Povetkin out by the 8th round to keep him from working his magic in the championship rounds, which happens to the time when AJ tends to wear down. Joshua sent Wladimir into retirement with his knockout win over him last year. If Joshua can KO Povetkin, it would be a big accomplishment, as he’s never beens topped before during his 13-year pro career.

“Hopefully take him down in Round 8,” Joshua said to ESPN.com.

That’s not going to be easy for Joshua to knock Povetkin out within eight rounds, because a prime Wladimir Klitschko was unable to do it in 2013 when he defeated him by a one-sided 12 round decision. Wladimir had more speed and power than Joshua possesses now, and he was unable to KO Povetkin. Wladimir had to fight Povetkin in a safety first manner to keep from getting caught by one of his big hooks and right hands. Wladimir did a good job of knocking Povetkin down four times, but he did in a way that minimized his offense with the constant clinching that he was doing in the fight.

This could have been Joshua fighting WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on Saturday, but the British fighter and his promoter Eddie Hearn chose to take the safer route against the 39-year-old Povetkin. If this backfires on Joshua and Hearn with Povetkin winning, they’re going to have egg on their faces. Joshua-Povetkin is a far smaller money fight than what could have been made if Joshua had taken the fight against Wilder.

Hearn justified the selection of Povetkin rather than Wilder because they didn’t want Joshua to lose his World Boxing Association title. However, losing the WBA title wouldn’t be a big deal for Joshua, because he would easily be able to pick the belt back up later on against whoever picked up the title. Joshua is the money man in the heavyweight division. There isn’t a fighter in the division that would pass up a fight against Joshua due to the money they would get. The perception from fans is Hearn intentionally chose to match Joshua against Povetkin rather than Wilder because it’s a less risky fight for him.

“So with Povetkin, I’m completely focused, but also focused on having a good scrap, and don’t mind coming away with a black eye and a cut nose because I want to give a bit to take a bit,” Joshua said.

Povetkin looked both good and vulnerable in knocking out David Price last March. Povetkin was caught with a hard left hook from Price in round 3 that knocked him down against the ropes. The ropes held Povetkin up from falling, so the referee ruled it as a knockdown. If Joshua can get to Povetkin’s chin early on, he might be able to knock him out like he’s hoping to. Povetkin is not the type of opponent that Joshua wants to let hang around for a long time because he’s got the knock of power that could make things difficult for him.

Povetkin has knockout wins over Carlos Takam, Mike Perez, Mariusz Wach, Manuel Charr, Hasim Rahman and Cedric Boswell. Povetkin did a better job knocking Takam out than Joshua did in stopping him in the 10th round last year. Povetkin stopped a younger Takam in the 10th round knockout in 2014. Povetkin beat a better version of Takam than Joshua did last year. Joshua’s stoppage win over Takam was unquestionably premature due to the way the referee stopped in suddenly in the 10th round after Joshua landed a few shots.

All Weights:

Yvan Mendy 134.5 vs. Luke Campbell 134.4
Matty Askin 199.5 vs. Lawrence Okolie 199.25
David Price 265.4 vs. Sergey Kuzmin 244.9
Shakhram Giyasov 143.25 vs. Julio Laguna 142