Wladimir Klitschko vs. Alexander Povetkin

Challenger rankings

Org.	Pos.	As of	Published
1+ Mth. Old
WBA	1	*	*
WBC	NR	01.05.2013	13-29.05.2013
IBF	NR	30.04.2013	by 02.06.2013
WBO	NR	10.05.2013	by 30.05.2013
Ring	2	22.04.2013	by 29.04.2013
2+ Mth. Old
WBA	1	*	*
WBC	NR	01.04.2013	by 17.04.2013
IBF	NR	31.03.2013	by 02.05.2013
WBO	NR	10.04.2013	by 20.04.2013
Ring	2	22.04.2013	by 29.04.2013
3+ Mth. Old
WBA	1	*	*
WBC	NR	01.03.2013	by 19.03.2013
IBF	NR	28.02.2013	by 03.04.2013
WBO	NR	10.02.2013	by 16.02.2013
Ring	2	21.01.2013	19.01-02.03.2013
* held WBA's secondary title from 27.08.2011

Wladimir Klitschko 242 lbs beat Alexander Povetkin 226 lbs by UD in round 12 of 12

• Date: 2013-10-05
• Location: Olimpiyskiy, Moscow, Russia
• Referee: Luis Pabon
• Judge: Philippe Verbeke 119-104
• Judge: Glenn Feldman 119-104
• Judge: Ted Gimza 119-104

• Ring Announcer: Michael Buffer
• Aired On: RTL (Germany), HBO (USA), Polsat Sport (Poland), Inter (Ukraine) (Main Event)
• World Boxing Association Super World Heavyweight Title (5th defense by Klitschko)
• World Boxing Organization Heavyweight Title (11th defense by Klitschko)
• International Boxing Federation Heavyweight Title (15th defense by Klitschko)
• International Boxing Organization Heavyweight Title (15th defense by Klitschko)
• The Ring Magazine Heavyweight Title (8th defense by Klitschko)
• Fight Poster

Notes

Background

Official scorecards

• Klitschko and Povetkin were originally scheduled to fight on December 13, 2008, but Povetkin withdrew due to an ankle injury. [1]
• The two were next scheduled to meet on September 11, 2010, but the fight unraveled when Povetkin, who had been training in New Jersey, failed to attend the press conference in Germany officially announcing the fight. Povetkin's camp claimed the fighter had a sinus problem and would be unable to fly for 10 days. However, there were rumors that there was a difference of opinion within the Povetkin camp about the fight; his promoters at Sauerland Event pushed for the bout but Povetkin's management and trainer Teddy Atlas wanted to delay it, believing the fighter wasn't ready to face Klitschko. K2 Promotions, Klitschko's company, complained to the IBF about Povetkin missing the news conference because it had won the promotional rights to the fight with a purse bid of $8,313,000. With so much money on the line, K2 needed him there to promote the fight, which was to take place at the 55,000-seat Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. The IBF sided with Klitschko and ordered him to begin negotiating with the next available contender, Samuel Peter. [2]
• Povetkin won the vacant WBA "regular" world heavyweight title against Ruslan Chagaev on August 27, 2011. The "regular" title became vacant after Klitschko defeated David Haye to win the WBA "super" world heavyweight title on July 2, 2011.
• On April 23, promoter Vladimir Hryunov won the right to promote the October 5, 2013, fight between Klitschko and Povetkin with a purse bid of $23,333,330, one of the largest in boxing history. Russian businessman Andrey Ryabinsky put up the money. It dwarfed bids made by K2 Promotions ($7,130,000) and Povetkin promoter Sauerland Event ($6,014,444), and it allowed Ryabinsky to dictate the location of the fight and guaranteed the fighters the biggest purses of their careers. Based on being entitled to 75 percent of the winning bid, Klitschko got $17,499,997, while Povetkin received $5,833,333 (25 percent).[3][4]
• On June 7, Klitschko's manager Bernd Boente expressed his hope to have the deal signed Tuesday or Wednesday next week.[5] Later that month, Boente stated that they were waiting for the WBA to give their approval for the deal.[6]
• On July 2, both sides announced that the contract had been signed after WBA had green-lighted the deal in the closing days of June.[7][8][9]
• Luis Pabon was appointed as the referee. He had refereed Povetkin's fight against Marco Huck a year prior.
• Klitschko entered as The Ring Magazine World Heavyweight Champion, and Povetkin was the No. 2 contender, one spot behind Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir's older brother. [10]
• Odds: Klitschko -650, Povetkin +485. [11]

Attendance

• Ticket prices ranged between 1,200 ₽ ($37) and 150,000 ₽ ($4,660).[12][13]
• Total attendance: 14,000.[14]
• The fight was attended by Albert II, Prince of Monaco.[15]
• Some sources reported that the President of Russia Vladimir Putin would attend the fight. [16][17] He also unsuccessfully pressed for the fight to be postponed to 7 October, his 60th birthday.[18]

Statistics

• Klitschko landed 139 of 417 total punches (33%) and Povetkin connected on 59 of 283 (21%). Klitschko landed 52 of 152 power shots (34%) compared to 35 of 172 (20%) for Povetkin. [19]
• Povetkin was the 20th opponent Klitschko has defeated for the heavyweight title, tying him with Larry Holmes for third place, behind Muhammad Ali (21) and Joe Louis (22 beaten opponents).
• This was Klitschko's 22nd career win in a world heavyweight title fight, tying him with Muhammad Ali for second place. He trails only Joe Louis, who won 26 championship fights. Klitschko also made his 15th consecutive title defense, which is third all-time behind Larry Holmes (20) and Joe Louis (25). [20]

Viewership

• The fight was broadcast to over 150 countries.[21][22]
• A total of 23 million people watched the fight in Ukraine.[23] It became the most popular TV program on Ukrainian television in 2013 in the 18+ demographic with 19.47 rating.[24][25]
• The fight averaged 11.02 million viewers in Germany. It peaked at 12.30 million viewers, which was roughly 15% of the German population. If 15% of the fans in the U.S. watched the fight it would come out to 47 million viewers. [26][27][28]
• In Russia, the fight was watched by a total 23 million people.

Financial Details

• Klitschko was guaranteed $17,499,997, while Povetkin secured $5,833,333.
• Overall, $25 million was spent on organizing the event.[29][30]
• Despite the costs, promoter Andrey Ryabinsky claimed that event had made a profit, as the organizers had earned just below $20 million from TV rights alone.

Reactions

• Klitschko was pilloried by some members of the media and many boxing fans for his excessive clinching during the fight and even he admitted it wasn't his finest performance. Kubrat Pulev would pay the price for Wlad's bruised ego.

Wladimir Klitschko's Title Reign Continues

by Dan Rafael, ESPN, October 5, 2013

Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko's fights are not always easy to watch. In fact, sometimes, like on Saturday, they are messy and frustrating. But the champ sure is effective, and his historic title reign continued.

Although he spent considerable time initiating clinches and draping his body over Alexander Povetkin's back after throwing a punch or combination, Klitschko also scored four knockdowns -- the first four times Povetkin had ever been off his feet as a professional or amateur -- in yet another utterly dominant victory, this time rolling to a 119-104 decision on all three judges' scorecards before some 15,000 on Saturday at the SC Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow.

Klitschko, who defended the title for the 15th time, used his four-inch height advantage and 16-pound weight advantage as he leaned on and clinched Povetkin after virtually every punch or combination he threw. And referee Luis Pabon did not do the fans or Povetkin any favors by ignoring it completely.

Despite the monotony of seeing Klitschko crack Povetkin with a powerful left jab and then fall on him, the champ also landed a lot of clean, hard shots, busted up Povetkin's face, scored the four knockdowns and left no doubt that he was still the king of the heavyweights with no serious challenger looming.

As has been the case throughout his seven-plus-year title reign -- the second-longest in history behind only Joe Louis -- Klitschko was again the dominant winner, remarkably routing Povetkin without being credited with landing a single body punch.

A mandatory challenger and secondary titlist, Povetkin was expected to at least give Klitschko some competition in the long-awaited showdown between the 1996 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from Ukraine (Klitschko) and the 2004 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from Russia (Povetkin), but he could not.

Povetkin (26-1, 18 KOs), 34, made things slightly interesting early on as he tried to make it a brawl for the first few rounds -- really his only way to win -- and made Klitschko look uncomfortable at times, charging him and winging punches. But Klitschko answered with cracking left hooks and jabs. After eating enough of them, Povetkin was dissuaded from his strategy and reduced to surviving while looking for a home run punch.

Klitschko (61-3, 52 KOs), 37, landed a powerful left hook in the first round and seemed to hurt Povetkin near the end of the round, but Pabon ruled it a slip. But there was no mistaking the knockdown in the second round, when Klitschko landed a fast, clean, short left hook that dropped Povetkin for the first time in his life.

Slowly but surely, Klitschko sapped Povetkin's strength with his punches and leaning on top of him, and he nearly ended the fight in the seventh round, which was a disaster for Povetkin, who went down three times.

First, Klitschko hammered Povetkin with a sensational jab-right hand combination to floor him hard in the first minute of the round. Then came an onslaught that included a brutal left hook that dropped him again.

Povetkin was badly hurt. He was staggering and trying to hold on when he went down for the third time from another series of shots.

Povetkin, who earned a career-best $5,833,333, his 25 percent share of the massive $23,333,330 purse bid engineered by Russian businessman Andrey Ryabinsky, was exhausted when the round finally ended, and it looked like it was going to be a matter of whether he would finish the fight on his feet or get knocked out.

To Povetkin's credit, although he continued to take punishment -- his right eye was badly bruised and his left eye was cut -- he showed heart. But he was a badly beaten man. When Klitschko shoved him in the 11th, he went down in a pile on top of his lifeless legs and Pabon docked a meaningless point from Klitschko for the infraction. That deduction led to an even round and was all that kept Klitschko from a 12-0 shutout.

Klitschko, whose 75 percent take of the purse bid was a career-high $17,499,997, has won virtually every round of his title reign as he continued to climb the historic ladder.

Already with the second-longest title reign, Klitschko's 15 successful defenses are the third-most all time in the heavyweight division behind Larry Holmes (20) and Louis (25, boxing's all-time record for any division).

The victory, his third since bringing on Johnathon Banks as his head trainer in the wake of the untimely death in October 2012 of Hall of Famer Emanuel Steward, was Klitschko's 22nd in a world title fight across two title reigns. That tied him with Muhammad Ali for second place in heavyweight history, trailing only Louis' 26 wins in championship fights.

That is the kind of dominant champion Povetkin was up against as he finally faced Klitschko after their fight had twice before been called off (in 2008 and 2012) when Povetkin pulled out, giving up mandatory title shots and, at the time, career money.

On Saturday, he finally made it to the ring in front of his home fans to face the dominant Klitschko. He paid a steep price with the beating he took.[31]

Post-Fight Quotes

• "That was a tough bit of work, he's a real fighter. I kept landing the punches, but he stayed in there. I believe it was a deserved win, but I think I can improve still." - Klitschko
• "Things didn't quite go as well as I wanted, but I never give up. Of course, he was the better fighter, he's the best in the world, that's clear." - Povetkin [32]