Alexander Povetkin

Alexander Povetkin Алекса́ндр Пове́ткин
Povetkin in 2015
Statistics
Real name	Alexander Vladimirovich Povetkin
Nickname(s)	Sasha Russian Vityaz Zar White Lion
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Reach	191 cm (75 in)
Nationality	Russian
Born	2 September 1979 Kursk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	31
Wins	30
Wins by KO	22
Losses	1
Draws	0
Medal record Men's amateur boxing Representing  Russia Olympic Games 2004 Athens Super heavyweight World Championships 2003 Bangkok Super heavyweight European Championships 2002 Perm Super heavyweight 2004 Pula Super heavyweight

Alexander Vladimirovich Povetkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Пове́ткин; born 2 September 1979) is a Russian professional boxer who has held the WBA (Regular) and WBC Silver heavyweight titles. As an amateur he represented Russia at the 2004 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the super heavyweight division. Povetkin also won gold at the 2003 World Championships as well as two consecutive golds at the 2002 and 2004 European Championships. He is known as a physically strong, hard-hitting, and skilled pressure fighter.

Amateur

After a successful amateur kickboxing career that included winning World Junior championship in 1997, World title in 1999 and a European professional kickboxing title in 2000, Povetkin won his first major boxing tournament at the Russian Championships in 2000 at the age of 21. This would be the beginning of several major amateur tournaments Povetkin would go on to win including; the Good Will Games in Brisbane, Australia in 2001; the 34th European Championship in 2002; the XII World Championship in 2003 held in Thailand; and the 35th European Championship in 2004. His amateur success would culminate in winning the gold medal at super-heavyweight (>91 kg) boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, in a walkover match over Egyptian Mohamed Aly. After taking Olympic Gold, he concluded his amateur career with a record of 125–7, with all losses avenged.^[2]

Amateur boxing competition record

Date	Competition	Location	Result
August 2004	Olympic games	Athens	1st place
February 2004	European championship	Pula	1st place
November 2003	24th Copenhagen cup	Copenhagen	1st place
July 2003	World amateur championships	Bangkok	1st place
May 2003	Russian championship	Ulyanovsk	2nd place
April 2003	22nd Gee Bee tournament	Helsinki	1st place
March 2003	International competition	Warsaw	1st place
February 2003	54th Strandja Cup	Plovdiv	1st place
November 2002	Russian championship	Vladivostok	1st place
October 2002	International tournament	Warsaw	1st place
July 2002	European championship	Perm	1st place
May 2002	Russian championship	Rostov	1st place
March 2002	International tournament	Rome	1st place
February 2002	53rd Strandja Cup	Plovdiv	1st place
November 2001	Oil cup	Nizhne-Vartovsk	1st place
October 2001	International tournament "Gold Ring"	Podolsk	1st place
September 2001	Goodwill games	Brisbane	1st place
June 2001	World amateur championships	Belfast	5th place
March 2001	Russian championship	Saratov	1st place
March 2001	International tournament	Halle	2nd place
November 2000	Russian championship	Samara	1st place
March 2000	Russian Cup	Perm	3rd place

Amateur boxing highlights

• 2002 won the gold medal at the European Championships in Perm, Russia at Super heavyweight. Results were:
  • Defeated Kurban Günebakan (Turkey) DISQ-2
  • Defeated Bsisi Taufiq (Israel) RSCO-3
  • Defeated Sebastian Kober (Germany) RSCH-4
  • Defeated Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) PTS (20–16)
• 2003 won the gold medal at the World Championships in Bangkok at Super heavyweight. Results were:
  • Defeated Djamal Madjidov (Ukraine) KO-2
  • Defeated Grzegorz Kielsa (Poland) PTS (20–9)
  • Defeated Rustam Saidov (Uzbekistan) PTS (30–10)
  • Defeated Pedro Carrion (Cuba) PTS (29–27)
• 2004 won the gold medal at the European Championships in Pula, Croatia at Super heavyweight. Results were:
  • Defeated Ivica Bacurin (Croatia) RSCO-3
  • Defeated Vladimer Tchanturia (Georgia) WO
  • Defeated Nikola Vujasinovic (Switzerland) RSCO-2 (21–0)
  • Defeated Jaroslav Jaksto (Lithuania) RSCO-3
  • Defeated Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) PTS (30–26)
• 2004 won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens at Super heavyweight representing Russia. Results were:
  • Defeated Sergey Rozhnov (Bulgaria) – RSC-4
  • Defeated Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov (Kazakhstan) – PTS (31–15)
  • Defeated Roberto Cammarelle (Italy) – PTS (31–19)
  • Defeated Mohamed Aly (Egypt) – Aly retired in the match, due to an injured right hand.

Kickboxing competition record

Date	Competition	Location	Result
June 2000	European championships (professional)	Nicosia	1st place
November 1999	W.A.K.O. World Championships 1999	Caorle	1st place
May 1998	Baltic countries cup	Kaliningrad	1st place
September 1997	World Junior championship (under 19)	Moscow	1st place

Pro career

2005-2006: Prospect

After winning the gold medal, Povetkin took a year off before making the decision to turn pro. After meeting with several fight promoters, Povetkin signed a contract to fight for Sauerland Events. Unlike other promoters, Sauerland would allow Povetkin to train mainly in his native Russia and fight primarily out of Germany. Povetkin made his professional debut in Germany 11 June 2005 by defeating German Muhammed Ali Durmaz by second round TKO. He followed that victory, in September, with a fourth round KO over Cerrone Fox and then by a first round knockout over John Castle less than a month later, although Castle was a last minute replacement for another fighter. In November, Povetkin won a one-sided four round decision over Canadian Stephane Tessier and finished off the year by gaining a technical knockout in 5 win over American Willie Chapman in December.

Povetkin stated early in the year that he wanted to fight five times in 2006. His first fight on his way of accomplishing this happened on 4 March 2006 when Povetkin scored a 2nd round TKO over Nigerian 1992 Olympic bronze medal winner Richard Bango. Though Bango had some success in the first round, Povetkin rallied, to not only win that round, but to knock out Bango in the next.

For his next fight, on 22 April, Povetkin signed up for his most important fight up until that date by facing Friday Ahunanya. Povetkin vs. Ahunanya drew attention in the boxing community because Ahunanya was believed to be a tough opponent for someone with only six fights. Despite this, the fight was fairly one-sided and Povetkin won a by clear unanimous decision.

He followed up those wins with a third round KO in Hannover, Germany on 3 June 2006 against Ecuador's Livin Castillo, Povetkin's first south paw opponent and a fifth round KO on 23 September 2006 against veteran American Ed Mahone in Wetzlar, Germany.

His final fight of the year was held on 10 December against ex-Cruiserweight title holder Imamu Mayfield. Mayfield became Povetkin's opponent after original opponent Ross Purrity was injured before the fight. It was Povetkin's first pro fight in his native Russia and was held on the undercard of Oleg Maskaev's first WBC title defense; the first time a Heavyweight Championship bout was held in Russia. Povetkin won the fight by way of a KO in the third round, bringing his total record to 10 wins in 10 fights by the end of the year.

2007-2008: IBF Tournament

On 3 March 2007 Povetkin scored another TKO, this time over experienced American, David Bostice. The fight ended in the second round. Following that fight, Povetkin had a more of a stay busy fight, winning for the fifth straight time by KO, this time in the second round over Canada's Patrice L'Heureux.

Alexander Povetkin's next fight 30 June 2007, was against experienced American contender, Larry Donald. Donald held victories over such illustrious figures as ex-champion Evander Holyfield and had narrowly lost his most recent fight to former belt holder Nikolai Valuev. Donald was considered, by many, to be a very good test for a prospect such as Povetkin, a test that Povetkin passed decisively, winning unanimously.

This was the first time Povetkin had gone the full distance of ten rounds in a professional boxing fight, though he did go ten rounds as a pro kick-boxer. The win over Donald was considered solid, and Povetkin continued his emergence as a promising heavyweight boxing contender.

In July, the IBF announced it had created a four person tournament to create a challenger for current IBF (and WBO) Champion Wladimir Klitschko.

On 27 October 2007 Povetkin met Chris Byrd, who had lost his title to Klitschko the year before. Povetkin won by way of an 11th round TKO victory. Byrd put up more resistance than Donald, but ultimately was overwhelmed, and his corner threw in the towel.

Less than a week later, Eddie Chambers won a split decision victory over former title challenger Calvin Brock. This advanced Povetkin and Chambers to the final round of the tournament. On 26 January 2008, after initial problems Povetkin defeated Chambers by unanimous decision to become the mandatory challenger for Klitschko. On 19 July 2008, Povetkin knocked out Taurus Sykes in the fourth round.

Povetkin was supposed to challenge Klitschko on 13 December 2008, but on 25 October, he withdrew from the Klitschko fight due to an injury. The IBF then announced that Klitschko would have until 13 September 2009 to fight Povetkin, but that option was not exercised.

2009-2010: Staying busy

After nine months inactivity due to his injury, Povetkin won a comeback against once-beaten PanAm amateur champion Jason Estrada on 4 April 2009 by unanimous decision.^[3] On 10 July 2009 Teddy Atlas announced on Friday Night Fights that Povetkin would be temporarily relocated to New York under his helm, where he can train him full-time. On 5 December, Povetkin fought in Ludwigsburg, Germany, against Leo Nolan, winning with a third round KO.

On 13 March 2010 Povetkin continued his unbeaten run beating Javier Mora in decisive action dropping him in the first, second and fifth rounds leading to the referee stopping the fight declaring him the winner by TKO.

2011: WBA World Title and first title defense

After Wladimir Klitschko unified his WBO and IBF titles with David Haye's WBA title, Klitschko was upgraded to "Super Champion" by the WBA, thus making the "Regular Champion" title vacant. On 27 August 2011, with Teddy Atlas in his corner, Alexander Povetkin bested Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev by unanimous decision to earn the WBA (Regular) Heavyweight Champion at the Messehalle arena in Erfurt, Germany. Povetkin (22–0) withstood a middle-round challenge from Chagaev (27–2–1), but worked his foe into submission in the later rounds of the bout. He walked away victorious thanks to 117–113, 117–113 and 116–112 scorecards.^[4]

His first defense of the WBA (Regular) title was against the American heavyweight contender Cedric Boswell, on 3 December 2011, at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland. Povetkin won the fight by 8th round KO.^[5]

2012: Second and third title defences

His second defense of the WBA (Regular) title was against the current WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco Huck, on 25 February 2012 at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. Povetkin won on points. The scores were: 114–114, 116–113 and 116–112.^[6]

Povetkin was originally set to fight Hasim Rahman on 14 July 2012, at the Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg. However, on 29 June, Rahman pulled out with a hand injury.^[7] This fight was rescheduled for 29 September, and Povetkin knocked out Rahman in second round.^[8][9]

2013: Fourth title defense and challenging Klitschko

Povetkin fought Andrzej Wawrzyk on 17 May 2013, in a voluntary title defense.^[10] He won the bout in the third round by the way of TKO.

On 5 October 2013, Povetkin fought Wladimir Klitschko for the WBA (super), WBO, IBF and IBO Heavyweight titles. Povetkin gave a brave effort against Klitschko, as the defending champion used his size advantage, constantly clinching and leaning on his Russian counterpart anytime Povetkin moved in, at one point he even threw Povetkin across the ring. Povetkin was quickly out of the fight; knocked down once in the second round and three times in the seventh round, but survived until the end. All three judges scored the fight 119-104 for Klitschko. The fight took place in Moscow, Olympic Stadium.^[11]

2014: Return victories

Povetkin bounced back in 2014, completely changing his training routine and diet. He began his return with a devastating stoppage of former WBC title challenger Manuel Charr. He followed this with a further stoppage of French-Cameroonian contender Carlos Takam, in a back and forth war considered a fight of the year for the heavyweight division. On May 22, 2015 Povetkin earned a mandatory title shot at WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder by knocking out Irish based Cuban contender, Mike Perez in the first round, also in devastating fashion. Following this fight, Povetkin stated that he would wait for the Wilder fight to materialise until he fought again. However when Wilder arranged to fight his last available voluntary defence against Johann Duhaupas, Povetkin arranged to fight the iron chinned contender Mariusz Wach.

On November 4, 2015 Povetkin faced Wach in the main event of a packed Russian card that featured multiple world title fights. Wach, who had gone 12 rounds with Wladimir Klitschko started off the fight with success, keeping the smaller Povetkin at range with his jab. But as the rounds went on, Povetkin was able to find his range and begin to push Wach around the ring with combinations on the inside. Towards the end of the fight, with both participants cut, Povetkin urged a referee stoppage as he deemed Wach, who was being hit at will essentially, unable to continue.

Personal life

Povetkin has a daughter named Arina with his ex-wife, Irina. In July 2013, Alexander married Yevgenia Merkulova in the Czech Republic.^[12] He also has a brother, Vladimir Povetkin, who fights as a professional light heavyweight. Both fighters were trained by Valery Belov. Povetkin also declared himself as rodnover, he wears a Perun axe necklace and has the star of Rus tattoo.^[13]

Professional boxing record

Titles in boxing

References

1. Alexander Povetkin – Boxer. Boxrec.com.
2. Povetkin beats Chambers, earns shot at heavyweight title. Sports.espn.go.com (2008-01-27). Retrieved on 2011-10-03.
3. Владимир Кличко должен встретиться с Поветкиным до 13 сентября 2009 года. Sports.ru (2008-11-09). Retrieved on 2011-10-03.
4. "Alexander Povetkin – Boxer". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
5. "BoxRec Boxing Records". Boxrec.com. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
6. Povetkin gets past Huck in a war. Fightnews.com (2012-02-25). Retrieved on 2012-10-16.
7. Former heavyweight world champion Hasim Rahman (wrist) withdraws from fight against Alexander Povetkin – ESPN. Espn.go.com (2012-06-29). Retrieved on 2012-10-16.
8. Alexander Povetkin-Hasim Rahman re-slated for Sept. 29 in Germany – ESPN. Espn.go.com (2012-08-06). Retrieved on 2012-10-16.
9. Povetkin dismantles Rahman; keeps heavyweight belt – ESPN. Espn.go.com (2012-09-30). Retrieved on 2012-10-16.
10. http://en.rsport.ru/fights/20130418/657771369.html
11. http://www.fightsaga.com/news/item/3248-Wladimir-Klitschko-vs-Alexander-Povetkin-Time-Date,-Stats-Facts
12. http://beautifulrus.com/alexander-povetkin-russian-professional-boxer/
13. I'm a pagan. In spirit and conscience is closer to me than Christianity(2014-01-29) . www.sports.ru/tribuna/
14. Alexander Povetkin – Boxer. Boxrec.com.

External links

• Professional boxing record for Alexander Povetkin from BoxRec
• Official website
• Personal page