Look Out Deontay Wilder! Alexander Povetkin Destroys Mike Perez to Become Wilder’s Mandatory

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By Travis “Novel” Fleming

This past Friday, former heavyweight titlist, and Olympic gold medalist, Alexander Povetkin, 29-1 21 KO’s, continued his reign of terror on the heavyweight division with a ridiculously impressive first round knockout over iron chinned top contender Mike Perez, 21-2-1 13 KO’s. The win makes Povetkin the mandatory challenger for WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder, 33-0 32 KO’s. The fight was held in Moscow, Russia, and it’s an understatement to say that this was the best performance on Russian soil by a native Russian in a very long time, perhaps ever. To many, this was a 50-50 fight, and one of the best heavyweight match ups of the year, but Povetkin flipped the script with his frightening power in scoring boxing’s knockout of the year for the second consecutive year. Deontay Wilder’s reign may only last as long as the end of this year if the WBC enforces its mandatory challenger, and Povetkin doesn’t accept step aside money from Wilder’s manager Al Haymon to allow Wilder to face another fighter or two before facing the vicious punching former champion from Russia.

Mike Perez is a very good fighter with a solid amateur pedigree. Through 23 pro fights against a good level of opposition, the iron chinned Cuban has never even been wobbled, let alone knocked down. What Povetkin showed last Friday was an unbelievable display of power. All it took was one right hand to discombobulate Perez’ brain from his skull. Perez has a muscular neck, reminiscent of a tree trunk, so to see the way a Povetkin right hand turned that neck into rubber, sending his head spinning as far as it could one way then snapping it back the other direction before crashing to the canvass, was almost surreal.

In October of 2013, an undefeated Povetkin holding the WBA heavyweight title after making four title defenses, entered into a bout with long time heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Povetkin suffered his first loss in a unanimous decision where Klitschko would not allow the Russian to throw punches. It was an extremely negative effort by Klitschko where he set an all time record for clinches in a fight. Many felt Klitschko should have been disqualified because everytime Povetkin started to punch and work inside, the bigger Klitschko would grab both of his arms, which prevented Povetkin from ever being able to show what would happen had he been given a fair shake. Before the Wlad fight, Povetkin was always a skilled heavyweight with a good punch, since then he’s looked down right frightening.

Since losing to Klitschko, Povetkin has fought three times, destroying highly rated, durable contenders along the way. In his first fight after losing to Klitschko, he notched a knockout of the year candidate against Manuel Charr. Charr lost a TKO to Vitali Klitschko on cuts, but the power punching elder Klitschko brother was unable to hurt the Lebanese contender, making Povetkin’s KO that much more impressive. Next, Povetkin took on Carlos Takam who was coming off of two impressive performances in beating the ageless contender, and prospect destroyer, Tony Thompson and fighting Mike Perez to a twelve round draw. Takam did some good work throughout the fight but the iron chinned man from Cameroon fell victim to a nasty knockout blow from Povetkin in round 7, which was Povetkin’s second consecutive KO of the year candidate in 2014. Then of course was last Friday’s first round annihilation of Mike Perez. These are not patsies, these are durable big men who have proven to take a massive heavyweight punch without flinching, and Povetkin managed to do more damage with one punch than many other combined heavyweights have done over the course of their pro careers. Guys like Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua have shown scary power, but no heavyweight in the world has been knocking out the level of opposition that Povetkin has, making Povetkin my choice for heaviest hands at heavyweight today. I’m not sure what’s gotten into Povetkin since the loss to Klitschko, but he has returned as a whole different monster, better than ever, and on a mission to destroy anyone in his path. It’s as if he is bitter from the way the Klitschko bout unfolded, excessive illegal clinching and all, and he is out to start fast and destroy every man put in front him to avoid risking an opponent to ever be allowed to smother his attack again. This revitalized version of Povetkin is a problem for anyone.

Povetkin is now in line to face Deontay Wilder later this year for the WBC heavyweight title. Wilder first has to get by journeyman Eric Molina on June 13 in an absolutely disgraceful first defense of his title, in a homecoming fight in front of his local fans in Alabama. Wilder should easily annihilate Molina, who has no business fighting for a world title and only got the call because he was willing to be a “stay busy” opponent for the champ on short notice, for what will be the first championship fight ever held in Wilder’s native Alabama. Wilder will gain nothing from destroying the unheralded Molina, but should at least give his local fans an impressive knockout and once he does, the stage is set for the biggest challenge of his career in Povetkin. After Povetkin destroyed Perez, Wilder instantly took to twitter to congratulate, and acknowledge the victory as well Povetkin’s newly earned mandatory status. Credit to Wilder for showing he’s not trying to avoid this dangerous mandatory challenge, he even tweeted that he’s excited to face Povetkin later this year, indicating that this fight has a high probability of going down before the end of 2015. I don’t know how anyone could be excited to face Povetkin after watching that performance, but kudos to Wilder for not going silent, and making it known that he’s ready for the challenge.

Wilder is in for the fight of his life against Povetkin. This a genuine 50-50 fight between the two hardest punching men in boxing, one shot can end it all for either man. I actually feel Wladimir Klitschko is declining and would be an easier fight for Wilder, as would Wlad’s next challenger Tyson Fury. In having to face Povetkin first, Wilder is taking the most difficult path to glory and should he win impressively, he will demand respect, and will become a favorite over the long reigning Klitschko in the eyes of many. A win over Povetkin would legitimize Wilder’s resume, unfortunately a loss will do irreparable damage, so this is a very risky fight for Wilder who has greatness, and massive paydays, on the horizon. Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitshcko will be fighting sometime later this year and the winner of that fight would likely have a huge demand to face the winner of Povetkin vs Wilder with all four major belts at heavyweight on the line. It would be the biggest heavyweight fight since Lennox Lewis vs Mike Tyson, and it would elevate the winner to becoming most celebrated heavyweight since the 1990’s. The best case scenario for boxing’s popularity would be if Wilder beat Povetkin, and Klitschko beat Fury, because Wilder has the most universal appeal to the casual sports fan, but his time could very well be limited with Povetkin waiting in the wings for a true pick’em fight to determine who gets the shot at all the marbles, and superstardom.

It’s great to have excitement back in the heavyweight division, which appears to be in its best shape in over twenty years. I can’t wait to see who comes out on top in this new era of competitiveness, and dedication, among boxing’s big men.

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