Alexander "The Pretty-good-so-far"

On the Klitschko/Byrd undercard, Alexander Povetkin, the 2004 Olympic Super-heavyweight gold medalist, faced off against Friday "the 13th" Ahunanya. The six-round bout ended in a Povetkin win by unanimous decision, and was quite the exciting match-up. Both fighters went straight at one another and slugged it out. The fight ended with no knockdowns, but it looked as if some were coming, had a longer fight been scheduled.

Ahunanya is a skilled fighter who looked to be a real contender until Serguei Lyakhovich beat him in 2001. Ahunanya won a few subsequent fights against less talented competition, before losing to Lance Whitaker in 2004. Since then, Ahnunanya has been fighting, and losing to, tough competition, including Dominick Guinn, Taurus Sykes, and Sultan Ibragimov. I place him in a special category of journeyman fighters, those who make their living as a proving ground, as opposed to just being a punching bag. He's only been knocked out once, and, while I don't think that this Nigerian toughman will ever be seen as a contender, he could still hammer out a respectable career. Povetkin has reason to feel proud of this win.

Povetkin, with only 3 amateur losses, went on to defeat every fighter than he has faced, avenging those amateur losses in the professional ranks. He has been compared to Joe Frazier, in that he has an aggressive, straight-forward style, and unlike most European fighters, he is very mobile. He doesn't stand upright, but comes in bobbing, weaving, and somewhat crouched. His arsenal is left hook-heavy, and he throws powerful uppercuts on the inside. Povetkin has good hand speed, though I doubt that he's as fast as Chris Byrd. He has power, but he hasn't shown the power of Samuel Peter or Lamon Brewster. He has shown a durable chin, but it has yet to be tested against a real contender. I am very curious to see what becomes of this guy, though I'm not quite ready to start singing his praises as the "next big thing".

This blog entry also appears as my first guest-article on Touchgloves.com, a new, very cool boxing news website. Check those guys out.