Alexander Povetkin retires at 41

By Boxing News - 06/13/2021 - Comments

By Charles Brun: Former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin announced his retirement on Sunday at 41 after 16 years as a professional.

In a post on his Instagram site, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist Povetkin pointed that he numerous injuries from his career that still need to be treated, and he feels that this is the right time for him to retire.

“The years take their toll,” Povetkin said on his Instagram account. “I have all kinds of injuries that still need to be treated. The time has come for me to end my career.”

With any retirement, you have to take a wait-and-see approach, as many fighters are returning to the ring after many years to make huge money. Who wouldn’t want to see Povetkin come back to battle Wladimir Klitschko or one of the other famous heavyweights in an exhibition on pay-per-view?

Povetkin (36-3-1, 25 KOs) lost his last fight earlier this year to Dillian ‘The Body Snatcher’ Whyte by a fourth-round knockout on March 27th in Gibraltar.

The Russian fighter had a bout of illness from COVID 19 in late last year that he had recently recovered from.

Many boxing fans felt that Povetkin wasn’t 100% for the fight with Whyte and that he needed to take more time before coming back for a fight as difficult as this one.

Image: Alexander Povetkin retires at 41

Povetkin didn’t look as fit for the rematch with Whyte compared to their first match on August 22nd last year at Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Fight camp.

That was a fight in which Povetkin shocked the world by getting off the deck twice in the fourth round to come back and knock Whyte out in the fifth round with a beautiful left uppercut to the head.

The shot put Whyte down back-first on the canvas, where the match was then halted immediately.

Povetkin did well financially in his career, facing Wladimir Klitschko, Anthony Joshua, the aforementioned Dillian Whyte, Marco Huck, Hughie Fury, Hasim Rahman, and Michael Hunter.

There was interest from some boxing fans in seeing Povetkin challenge Deontay Wilder a few years ago, but the fight never happened. That would have been an interesting match to see it would have ended. When the two were planning on fighting, Povetkin was rolling over everyone in his patch and looking great.

Povetkin’s fifth-round knockout of David Price in 2018 was a devastating one. The fight was a competitive drama-filled one in which Price nailed Povetkin with a tremendous left hook that sent him flying across the ring into the ropes.

YouTube video

Since the ropes held Povetkin up, it was considered a knockdown. One could see that Povetkin was visibly hurt. Price had Povetkin where he wanted him, but fortunately for Alexander, the round ended. That was Povetkin’s good luck because Price had him where he wanted him.

Povetkin nailed Price with a right hand to the head that had him out on his feet in the fifth round. He then followed it up with a left hook to the head that knocked Price flat.

That punch from Povetkin shook Price from his boots, knocking him senseless. Along with Povetkin’s upset win over Whyte, it was a great moment in the Russian fighter’s career.