Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin

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Challenger rankings
Org. Pos. As of Published
1+ Mth. Old
WBA 2 31.05.2018 31.05.2018
WBC 3 02.06.2018 by 10.06.2018
IBF 3 31.05.2018 12.06.2018
WBO 1 16.06.2018 16.06.2018
Ring N/A N/A N/A
2+ Mth. Old
WBA 2 30.04.2018 30.04.2018
WBC 3 01.04.2018 10-15.04.2018
IBF 4 30.04.2018 23.04.2018
WBO 1 21.03.2018 21.03.2018
Ring N/A N/A N/A
3+ Mth. Old
WBA 2 31.03.2018 01.04.2018
WBC 3 01.04.2018 10-15.04.2018
IBF 4 31.03.2018 09.04.2018
WBO 1 21.03.2018 21.03.2018
Ring 3 08.04.2018 16.04.2018

Anthony Joshua 245 lbs beat Alexander Povetkin 222 lbs by TKO at 1:59 in round 7 of 12

  • Date: 2018-09-22
  • Location: Wembley Stadium, Wembley, London, United Kingdom
  • Referee: Steve Gray
  • Judge: Carlos Sucre 59-55
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  • Judge: Matteo Montella 58-56
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  • Judge: Jean-Robert Laine 58-56
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Notes

JoshuaPovetkinPoster.jpg

Timeline

  • On December 5, 2017, Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn revealed to Sky Sports that he was due to meet the WBA president Gilberto Mendoza, with the mandatory challenger being one of the topics of the conversation: "I'm due to speak with Gilberto Mendoza, who may come to the UK in December. Luis Ortiz was the mandatory but has been banned so there will be a new one. Manuel Charr has won the "regular" title but they are not looking at him as a mandatory challenger. Alexander Povetkin is fighting Christian Hammer (on Dec. 15) which could be the final eliminator to be Joshua's mandatory. We have spoken about Joshua vs. Povetkin, and the likelihood of that. We have a really good relationship with World of Boxing, who are his promoters. They have a situation where they can fight a final eliminator to be the mandatory for Joshua, or for the WBO, so they are making that decision now."[1]
  • On December 14, 2017, RingPolska reported that Povetkin's upcoming fight against Christian Hammer would indeed be WBA's heavyweight title eliminator.[2]
  • On December 16, 2017, Povetkin defeated Hammer by unanimous decision.[3][4]
  • On January 17, Eddie Hearn hinted at the possibility of Povetkin fighting on the undercard of Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker: "We've got a great relationship with World of Boxing (who look after Povetkin) and he might box on the card. We've offered it to Dereck Chisora and David Price. If Povetkin boxes on the card, it will be against a Brit."[5]
  • On February 2, Matchroom Boxing announced that Povetkin would face David Price on the Joshua vs. Parker undercard. "I'm very excited to be fighting on this huge show. I expect to put on a great performance and then go on to fight the Joshua vs. Parker winner later this year," Povetkin said after the announcement.[6]
  • On March 31, Povetkin knocked out Price in the fifth, while Joshua defeated Parker by unanimous decision and unified his WBA and IBF titles with the WBO title.
  • On April 5, WBA ordered Joshua to face Povetkin within 150 days and negotiate a deal within 30 days. Povetkin also shut down the prospect of a step-aside deal: "Now Anthony Joshua has four belts. I really want this fight, but I do not even want to think about proposals to box with other rivals."[7][8]
  • On April 23, Povetkin's promoter Andrey Ryabinsky expressed his belief that Joshua would "do the right thing" and give Povetkin the fight. He also said that Povetkin would be "more than happy" to come to the UK for the fight.[9]

Negotiations With Deontay Wilder

  • After winning against Joseph Parker, Joshua publicly called out WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.
  • The next day in an interview with BBC Sport, Joshua threated to "freeze out" Wilder unless he got serious about negotiating the showdown.[10]
  • On April 2, Wilder's advisor Shelly Finkel said that Wilder was ready to fight Joshua and expressed his willingness to schedule the fight at Wembley Stadium as early as that summer.[11]
  • On April 10, Joshua told Sky Sports that his team was preparing Wilder "a deal he can't refuse".[12]
  • The next day, Shelly Finkel told The Telegraph that Wilder received a take-it-or-leave it £8.8 million deal to fight Joshua, a "flat fee with no place, date or venue, nor even whether it was the next fight". He added: "We will respond appropriately in the next day or so with our counter offer."[13]
  • On April 17, Hearn said that he would be meeting with Wilder's management the following week in New York.[14]
  • On April 26, Wilder posted a video in which he claimed his team offered Joshua $50 million: "all the money is in the bag so I expect you to be a man of your word". Wilder's claim was backed by Shelly Finkel, who told that him and Al Haymon "never not delivered what we offered".[15]
  • Two days later, Hearn gave another interview to Sky Sports in which he complained about Wilder's team's negotiation tactics: "It's all very bizarre. I returned the e-mail of Deontay Wilder and said we are very interested in making this fight, please send us a draft contract. He replied and said 'you have to accept the fight and then we will send you the contract.' I've never known anything so bizarre since I've worked in boxing. I had a meeting with Shelly Finkel scheduled for Thursday, he cancelled that meeting. I requested a meeting for Friday, and he e-mailed me, while also e-mailing the whole press world, saying 'there is no point in meeting it would be non-productive – we have to accept the deal first.' It's always nice to call someone's bluff. What we've done is called their bluff here, and they won't even meet to talk about the deal". He denied that the $50 million offer was sent to him and labeled it a "PR stunt".[16]
  • On May 28, Wilder said in an interview with Fight Hub that the Joshua fight would happen either in September in the UK or November in the US, "If they still serious – we been serious this whole way through, Joshua said he wanted the $50 million he'll sign tomorrow. We did exactly what he did and he didn't sign so that shows you his character already, or his team character. I think Joshua wants to fight but I don't think his team want to risk what they've invested. Their investment about to go and they know it."[17]
  • On June 1, Hearn told Sky Sports that Povetkin was next for Joshua if Wilder does not accept the offer sent to him: "I don't like making deadlines because sometimes it gets people's backs up but at some stage soon we have to make a decision. We are close to closing a deal with Povetkin with Robinsky and World of Boxing and once the deal is closed, there is no Deontay Wilder. My dad is out in New York at the moment, and he might meet Shelly [Finkel] today. They have our offer so they have to accept it or move on."[18]
  • On June 24 in another interview with Sky Sports, Hearn said that he did not believe Wilder actually wanted the fight: "I can't quite make out whether people are lying to Deontay about the negotiations or he is just completely deluded. He has now had the contract a week. We are getting calls from the WBA on a daily basis asking what's happening, there is absolutely zero urgency from Deontay and his team other than posting silly Instagram videos. The proof is in the resumes and at this stage I believe Deontay and his team do not want this fight."[19]

After Negotiations With Wilder Fell Through

  • On June 27, Eddie Hearn stated that the deal with Povetkin is agreed on, but not signed yet.[20]
  • On July 5 it's been confirmed that Joshua would make his next title defense on September 22 at Wembley Stadium, though the opponent was not announced.[21]
  • On July 11, Povetkin's promoter Andrey Ryabinsky further reiterated that negotiations were still ongoing and that the contract was not yet signed.[22]
  • Bout finally announced on 16 July.[23][24]

Ranking Movements

  • Povetkin ranked No. 1 contender by the WBA and the WBO throughout the entire year leading into the fight, the latter thanks to beating previous first-ranked Christian Hammer on December 15, 2017. Joshua was the WBA's Super Champion, while Manuel Charr was the Regular Champion.
  • Povetkin was also consistently ranked as IBF's fourth highest-ranked contender; he moved up one spot on June 12, after Dillian Whyte was dropped from Top 15, and then again on August 9 when Jarrell Miller was inexplicably dropped from Top 15 as well. Povetkin entered the fight as IBF's second highest-rated challenger, only behind Kubrat Pulev.
  • WBC ranked Povetkin at No. 3 from early April until the Joshua bout was officially announced, after which he was completely dropped from the Top 40.
  • Ring Magazine rated Povetkin as the fourth best heavyweight in the world, only behind world champions, until he switched places with third-rated Joseph Parker following the latter's loss of the WBO title to Joshua.

The Fight

  • Povetkin bloodied Joshua's nose in the first, and overall outworked his opponent in the opening two rounds.
  • Starting from the third, Joshua started to take lead, as his consistent jabs to the body gradually sapped Povetkin's stamina.
  • In the seventh Joshua stunned Povetkin with a right hand, then dropped him with a left hook. Povetkin got up but was still shaky on his feet. Joshua immediately jumped on Povetkin and dropped him again, with the ref stopping the fight without even starting the count.
  • CompuBox stats:
    • Total: Joshua 90/256 (35.2%), Povetkin 47/181 (26%)
    • Jabs: Joshua 53/165 (32.1%), Povetkin 4/38 (10.5%)
    • Power punches: Joshua 37/91 (40.7%), Povetkin 43/143 (30.1%)
    • Jabs to the body: Joshua 27, Povetkin 1
    • Power punches to the body: Joshua 2, Povetkin 9.[25]
  • Unofficial scorecards:
Agency Writer(s) Scorecard Winner Reference
The Independent Luke Brown 58–56 Joshua [26]
Sky Sports Carl Froch 58–56 Joshua [27]
CBS Sports Brian Campbell 57–57 tie [28]
Sport UA N/A 57–57 tie [29]


Preceded by:
Joshua vs. Parker 		WBA Heavyweight Title Fight
# 105 		Succeeded by:
Joshua vs. Ruiz I
Preceded by:
Joshua vs. Parker 		IBF Heavyweight Title Fight
# 72 		Succeeded by:
Joshua vs. Ruiz I
Preceded by:
Joshua vs. Parker 		WBO Heavyweight Title Fight
# 57 		Succeeded by:
Joshua vs. Ruiz I


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