There is a saying that size doesn’t matter but that definitely does not apply at the highest level in heavyweight boxing.
When ANTHONY JOSHUA defends his IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles against WBA champion ALEXANDER POVETKIN at Wembley Stadium this Saturday, the unbeaten three-belt champion will have a considerable advantage in both height (198cm as opposed to his opponent’s 188cm) and reach (208cm against 190cm).
AJ is also 11 years younger than his mandatory challenger, though Sasha has only been beaten once in a 35-fight career. That, however, was against Wladimir Klitschko, whom Joshua knocked out to win the first of his world titles. Klitschko had Povetkin on the canvas four times when they met in Moscow before eventually settling for a unanimous points victory. That was back in 2013 when the Ukrainian was at the peak of his powers but Povetkin is also five years older and did miss the while of 2017 when serving a drugs ban.
The Russian’s last appearance saw him fight on the undercard in Cardiff as Joshua successfully defending his tiles against New Zealand’s Joseph Parker. Povetkin eventually stopped David Price in the fifth round of a brutal contest in which both men had suffered knockdowns. Like Joshua, the challenger is a former Olympic champion and he can only view this fight as his last chance to be an undisputed world champion. He’ll probably and try and rough up the champion inside as he is going to come off worse if AJ can keep him on the end of his jab. He is powerful and isn’t short of ring craft and has a puncher’s chance of pulling off an almighty upset at 8/1 with Betway if he can land with one or two of his left hooks.
But Joshua just seems to get better and better and is becoming a great champion. He’s looked really sharp in training and is coping well with the pressure of being the heavyweight every one wants to knock out. The Watford-born Briton has won all-but-one of his 22 professional bouts by knockout and, still young in terms of the heavyweight division, has immense power in both hands. While Povetkin can be resilient, lesser men than Joshua have put him down and it would be a surprise if this one went the full 12 rounds.
It’s not possible to make much of a profit backing Joshua to win (a best 1/9) but some bookmakers are offering 2/5 for the champion to beat the challenger by KO, TKO or Disqualification and you can back Povetkin to be knocked down at any time at 3/10 with Betway.
