By George Priestman: Fight Camp has been a resounding success, and it closes off with heavyweight clash worthy of selling out the likes of the 02 Arena. It sees Dillian Whyte risking his WBC #1 mandatory position as he comes up against the seasoned, experienced Russian fighter Alexander Povetkin.
For Fight Camp, this is the principle fight with Katie Taylor and Delfine Persoon. To have world title fights or fights at the world level is an incredible achievement for what is essential fighting in someone’s garden. That is oversimplifying it as the garden belongs to multi-millionaire boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and his mansion.
It has been built up as the ‘battle of the left hooks’ due to both fighters possessing fantastic power in their respective shots. However, this fight is seen as an incredible risk for Whyte as losing here may eradicate all of his hard work up to this point,
For Povetkin, it could mean he gets one last chance to make an assault on the heavyweight division. Winning here would be his best win for a long time, and it would see him leapfrog Whyte into the mandatory challenger position.
World Title Fight Inbound
We know that the winner of this fight has to face the winner of Wilder/Fury 3 if that goes ahead. Or if Fury doesn’t fight the winner next, he would vacate, and then the winner would automatically become the WBC champion.
Fans will want to see Fury come up against the winner, even if it means the Anthony Joshua fight has to be pushed back into summer next year. When you look at the current climate, a fight that big has to happen with a crowd and a full build-up, therefore it is unlikely that fight would be next anyway.
Hopefully, we see the winner of this fight come up against Fury, whether it’s late this year or early 2021. Either way, it’s a fight for Fury against a top-five heavyweight, which is clearly a great matchup for the fans.
Fight Breakdown
Whyte is a fan favorite for his fighting style, his straight-talking personality, and the fact he is never in a boring fight. He continually offers quality fights time and time again with Dereck Chisora (twice) Joshua, Joseph Parker, Oscar Rivas, and now Povetkin.
Learning fight by fight, he is vastly improved from the fighter who lost to Joshua in 2015. He has a lot more experience, and you can see in the ring he has matured as a fighter. Gone are the days of his fighting style being predominately wild and reflecting that of a street fight. His recent fights have shown him control fight and carry power through the later rounds.
Whyte has been training all of the lockdown in Portugal, working extremely hard. The fight was announced before lockdown, and therefore, he has been ready for a long time. This is arguably the best shape he’s ever been in, with the second Chisora fight being a very close second. He’s ready to go.
Povetkin is a seasoned professional and has only lost twice to Wladimir Klitschko and Joshua. Last time out, we saw him draw with American Michael Hunter in an entertaining fight that saw both fighters hurt but not down.
Widely regarded as a top boxer, he is well-educated and experienced. The mantra of been there, done it is relevant here, in terms of the big occasion. He, too, looks in great shape. He is extremely professional and has also been training for a long time too.
Styles Make Fights
Styles make fights; it’s old boxing saying. I believe Povetkin is a better boxer than Whyte, due to his much better amateur pedigree and the fact he is more skilled.
Whyte is no doubt the bigger man and the younger man and arguably hungrier man with the world title in reach. The ‘Bodysnatcher’ has improved massively from five years ago, and this version of Whyte is best placed to beat Povetkin.
‘Battle of the left hooks’ is a very outlandish way to look at the fight. Both have lethal left hooks, and for Povetkin, it’s definitely his best weapon. We saw him rock AJ at Wembley with it, and it is a very brutal weapon.
However, the same proved true for Whyte too, knocking out Lucas Browne, Chisora, and knocking down Parker as well as wobbling Joshua with his own mighty left hook.
The best chance for Povetkin is early, as Whyte can easily box 12 rounds in this shape and carry his power through – as shown in the Chisora fight, where he knocked out a man who doesn’t get knocked out deep into the fight in the 11th.
Whyte’s fitness and improvements allow him to be the favorite, and the size and power mean he can lean on the Russian and box at range.
Verdict
Calling back to the Amateur pedigree, I think Povetkin will land on Whyte at some point, as his technique is much polished than Whyte’s. But Whyte is much more patient than he was certainly a few years ago.
He found a way to keep the likes of Rivas, Parker, and Chisora off him with his ever-improving skills. Those three are similarly built to Povetkin, but none are better than the Russian in terms of boxing ability.
It is the last chance saloon for Povetkin; he is at Fight Camp for the last roll of the dice and for his challenge on the heavyweight division.
Whyte has it all on the line, years of hard work to be the mandatory challenger for the WBC world title. A win here will increase his stock tenfold, and a mammoth clash with Tyson Fury will be what he has his eyes on.
A loss, however, will set the fighter back, no doubt, but it won’t be the end of the road. He takes big fights on the regular, so he would be able to come back at 32 years old.
It has the potential to be a scintillating clash due to the future fights at stake, the styles, and pure power of the two heavyweights. Maximum violence is the tagline and tuning on Saturday night; I’m expecting nothing else.