BoxRec

these last 2 fights were serious step ups. i mean he shouldn't even have been fighting Donald and Byrd, by any normal standards. this guy is class and i don't think he needs raw power. with his skill and - not forgetting - with his promoters, he is going places.

would love to see him vs 1 of the British heavies, so we can get him live on UK TV...

He would demolish any of the British heavies.

good viewing!

Autobarn wrote:these last 2 fights were serious step ups. i mean he shouldn't even have been fighting Donald and Byrd, by any normal standards. this guy is class and i don't think he needs raw power. with his skill and - not forgetting - with his promoters, he is going places.

would love to see him vs 1 of the British heavies, so we can get him live on UK TV...

By rights we should have had ample opportunities to see him live - Warren prematurely claimed to have signed the next great heavy before letting him slip into German hands.

Having said that, he sure as hell wouldnt have been fighting Byrd in fight 13 if Warren had been involved! He would have been far more likely to have been facing a McDermott or a Krence at this stage..

TerribleTerry wrote:

Autobarn wrote:these last 2 fights were serious step ups. i mean he shouldn't even have been fighting Donald and Byrd, by any normal standards. this guy is class and i don't think he needs raw power. with his skill and - not forgetting - with his promoters, he is going places.

would love to see him vs 1 of the British heavies, so we can get him live on UK TV...

By rights we should have had ample opportunities to see him live - Warren prematurely claimed to have signed the next great heavy before letting him slip into German hands.

Having said that, he sure as hell wouldnt have been fighting Byrd in fight 13 if Warren had been involved! He would have been far more likely to have been facing a McDermott or a Krence at this stage..

Good point, Povetkin definitely did the right thing not going with Warren.

Not sure I agree with Autobarn's phrase "any normal standards" - yes, Byrd is a former champion and Donald is a fringe contender. Good wins not disputing - but its still in worst era in the devisions history by any normal standards Byrd would never have been a champion, and Donald would never have been close to being a contender.

Yes, it looks rosey for Povetkin - but I do think the crapness of the current devision makes him look better than what he is. Yes, not disputing the faith the management has in Povetkin and its refreshing and Povetkin has the talent to match the faith - what I am saying though is I don't think I have read ANYONE tip Byrd to win. Not sure how many would have 12 months ago either. Slightly different to when Lewis fought Mason at a similar stage - a fair few tipped Mason who was at his peak.

What I'm saying is these are tricky fights for a young heavyweight & for him to put in accomplished performances is big by any standards. Check out Mulcahy's article at maxboxing which has a look at what various heavyweights were doing near 13-0...

I think Povetkin's better than he looked last night. Considering how awkward he was vs southpaw Livin Castillo, for instance.

When we see Chambers go in with Brock, there are any # of things that can & may well go wrong for the young American. The examples of Clay-Bey, Kirk Johnson, Michael Grant, Obed Sullivan, Tua, Golota, for example don't give me much hope for a stepping up heavyweight. There's too many hazards that will probably reveal something bad; whereas Povetkin has proven himself a reliable problem solver with wins over Ahunanya, Donald, Byrd, already.

If Povetkin becomes a champion in this era, with guys like Chagaev, Wlad, Ibragimov, Valuev, Peter well, these are good enough opponents.

stujones wrote:Not sure I agree with Autobarn's phrase "any normal standards" - yes, Byrd is a former champion and Donald is a fringe contender. Good wins not disputing - but its still in worst era in the devisions history by any normal standards Byrd would never have been a champion, and Donald would never have been close to being a contender.

Yes, it looks rosey for Povetkin - but I do think the crapness of the current devision makes him look better than what he is. Yes, not disputing the faith the management has in Povetkin and its refreshing and Povetkin has the talent to match the faith - what I am saying though is I don't think I have read ANYONE tip Byrd to win. Not sure how many would have 12 months ago either. Slightly different to when Lewis fought Mason at a similar stage - a fair few tipped Mason who was at his peak.

Maxboxing did an interesting peice on exactly this topic. Take a look:

http://www.maxboxing.com/mulcahey/mulcahey102707.asp

TerribleTerry wrote:

Autobarn wrote:these last 2 fights were serious step ups. i mean he shouldn't even have been fighting Donald and Byrd, by any normal standards. this guy is class and i don't think he needs raw power. with his skill and - not forgetting - with his promoters, he is going places.

would love to see him vs 1 of the British heavies, so we can get him live on UK TV...

By rights we should have had ample opportunities to see him live - Warren prematurely claimed to have signed the next great heavy before letting him slip into German hands.

Having said that, he sure as hell wouldnt have been fighting Byrd in fight 13 if Warren had been involved! He would have been far more likely to have been facing a McDermott or a Krence at this stage..

LOL, in those circumstances they wouldn't bring Byrd in until Povetkin's holding a title and making his 3rd or 4th defense

Yes, but most of those examples in the Maxboxing piece have been alot busier than Povetkin. Sure I can what the article says - but what I think also needs to be considered is the time it took. Not suggesting Povetkin has taken a long time - but Lewis had fought Mason and Tyson was world champion in a quicker time (from signing pro) to what Povetkin has done. I think that also indicates alot of faith.

On the flip side - Razor Rudduck had fought Mike Weaver at a similar stage to his career as Chris Byrd was (maybe a bit fresher) in his 13th fight. But it took him nearly 4 years to get to his 13th fight.

Today's boxing is less busy though. Maybe it doesn't matter with Povetkin. He came into boxing with a clean pro style and solved out some decent tricky names pretty early in his career. 3 yrs, 14 fights not a great deal, but the progress he has made has been remarkable. Super Heavy Gold at Athens 2004, top ten heavyweight in 2007 (especially after emphatic wins vs Donald & Byrd).

Excellent win for Povetkin. Byrd is a bit ancient now and has that annoying "family" team in the corner but he is world class for this era and Povetkin dismissed him in the 11th. Povetkin is the real thing

Autobarn wrote:Today's boxing is less busy though. Maybe it doesn't matter with Povetkin. He came into boxing with a clean pro style and solved out some decent tricky names pretty early in his career. 3 yrs, 14 fights not a great deal, but the progress he has made has been remarkable. Super Heavy Gold at Athens 2004, top ten heavyweight in 2007 (especially after emphatic wins vs Donald & Byrd).

Don't get me wrong, I don't think its a bad achievement or anything - I've said it time and time again an Olympic champion who turns pro should be very much knocking on the door of a world title by the next Olympics. Povetkin is going to do this. Great achievement, but not uncommon all I was saying.

I hope he goes all the way & believe he can. Byrd seems to be convinced by him.