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Thread: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

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    Default Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    https://www.boxingnews24.com/2019/02...#disqus_thread

    Promoter Eddie Hearn is planning in bringing unbeaten undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksander Usyk over to the United States for his debut fight at heavyweight against former World Boxing Association champion Alexander Povetkin on DAZN on May 18 in Chicago, Illinois, according to ESPN.


    Usyk (16-0, 12 KOs) wants to start with the best right away in the heavyweight division; hence, Hearn is going to try and match him against the 39-year-old Povetkin (34-2, 24 KOs), who is coming off of a seventh round knockout loss to Matchroom fighter IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (22-0, 21 KOs) five months ago on September 22 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Usyk vs. Povetkin will make a lot of noise in their native countries of Ukraine and Russia, as these two popular fighters over there. Both are Olympic gold medalists, and both have excellent technical boxing skills. Povetkin won an Olympic gold medal for Russia in 1994.

    Usyk captured his gold medal in the 2012 Olympics for Ukraine. However, the southpaw Usyk has had better success at the pro level than Povetkin in capturing four world titles, albeit in division that’s not as well stocked as the heavyweight division that Alexander has fought in. Povetkin, at small heavyweight at 6’2″, 225 lbs, could have spent his career fighting at cruiserweight, and likely would have unified the division as well, but he choose to fight at heavyweight where the money is better. Povetkin had to deal with bigger heavyweights like the 6’6″ Wladimir Klitschko and 6’5″ Joshua. Those are the only two fighters that Povetkin has lost to in his 14 year pro career.


    Usyk is co-promoted by Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promotional company, having signed with them in 2018, shortly after having won the World Boxing Super Series tournament with a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision over IBF/WBA cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev in the final in Moscow, Russia on July 21, 2018. Usyk made it clear recently that he nothing else to achieve in staying at cruiserweight, and that he wanted to move up to heavyweight to unify the division in beating the likes of Joshua and whoever has the other titles before retiring from the sport. Usyk, 32, defeated WBC emeritus cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew by an eighth round knockout last year on November 10 in a fight shown on Sky Box Office in the UK at the Manchester Arena, England. The fight was competitive for the first seven rounds before Usyk seemed to shift gears in the eighth round, and easily put a tired looking Bellew away with a vicious knockdown.

    This will be Usyk’s third time fighting in the U.S. He beat Thabiso Mchunu by a 9th round knockout in December 2016 in Inglewood, California. A year later, Usyk came back to the U.S and beat 2012 Olympian Michael Hunter by a 12 round unanimous decision. Neither fight could be described as exciting to watch. In fact, there was a lot of booing during the Usyk vs. Mchunu fight from the boxing fans ringside at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The fans were obviously accustomed to seeing more action-packed brawling from fighters in that are area of California. Seeing Usyk fight so technically against a much smaller, and weaker opponent in 5’11” Mchunu looked out of sorts with the fans. They responded by letting Usyk know how they felt about how he was fighting. Likewise, Usyk’s performance against Michael Hunter in 2017 was also less than thrilling to watch. The 6’3″ Usyk struggled with the high punch output from Hunter in the first six rounds of the fight. In the second half of the contest, Usyk adapted by getting on his bike and boxing the remainder of the way to shutdown Hunter’s offense. Although Usyk picked up the victory, it was not thrilling to watch.

    This is a tough first fight at heavyweight in facing Povetkin, who is still fighting at a high level despite him nearing 40-years-old. Usyk was reportedly interested in facing former heavyweight world title challenger Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (30-1, 26 KOs). It’s unclear what made Usyk and Hearn look at Povetkin as the guy that they want to go after. Povetkin being a former world champion with arguably better name recognition with the casual and hardcore boxing fans might be the main reason. Ortiz, 39, is the same age as Povetkin, but he’s a southpaw, very technical, and he punch. Usyk is familiar with the Eastern European style of fighting that Povetkin uses.


    Ortiz would likely be a tougher fight for Usyk, because of his southpaw stance, bigger size, power and the fact that he fights with many different styles. Ortiz has adopted a variety different fighting styles that he can switch during his fights, which makes him very hard to beat when he changes things up. Ortiz came close to knocking out WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder last year in March. Ortiz might have stopped Wilder if not for the delay in the start of the eighth round. Ortiz had hurt Wilder in the seventh, and had him close to being stopped. Hearn had been mentioning Ortiz as a possible option for Usyk’s first fight. A lot of boxing fans were highly skeptical of Hearn letting Usyk fight the dangerous Ortiz in his first fight, as it’s become a common practice for Eddie to throw the Cuban fighter’s name out there when his fighters Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte need an opponent. Hearn will mention Ortiz’s name, and then go with an arguably lesser threat like Dereck Chisora or Lucas Browne.

    It won’t be surprising if Povetkin beats Usyk. Povetkin can still punch, and he’s excellent at timing fighters to nail them with his powerful left hook and right hand. Usyk is going to have to focus on his defense the entire fight, as Povetkin as a big threat to him. Usyk struggled in his fights with Mairis Briedis and Bellew. Those guys would likely lose to a talented heavyweight like Povetkin. For Usyk, he’s in a tough spot. He can’t just win ugly by running around the ring, and making it boring like he did against Hunter and Mchunu. Usyk has got to stand and mix it up with Povetkin if he wants to impress the U.S boxing public. If Usyk chooses to just win the fight by ignoring the booing from the crowd, then he’ll likely win a convincing 12 round unanimous decision over Povetkin. But the victory will come with a cost, as the American boxing fans will let him know that his style of fighting isn’t appreciated. Afterwards, Hearn might need to reassess where to have Usyk fight his future matches. If he keeps bringing Usyk back to the U.S to be booed nonstop by boxing fan due to his technical style of fighting, which is very reminiscent of former heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko, then it’s going to look bad in the eyes of the fans that are watching his fights on DAZN in the U.S and other parts of the world. If Usyk is incapable or unwilling to change his fighting style to be more fan friendly, then Hearn needs to be cognizant of that, and stick him in England where the boxing fans would be more interested in seeing him dance around the ring, and not getting his feet wet in his fights. For Usyk’s sake, he needs to be a lot more aggressive against Povetkin than what he showed in his fights against Mchunu and Hunter if he wants to impress the U.S boxing fans.
    Yeah there is far too much for me to be bothered to read but its a good solid introduction to the HW division for Usyk, I am looking forward to him taking on the bigger boys, see how he does against someone who is 6ft 5

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    Default Re: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    That is a tough introduction to the heavyweight division for a cruiserweight champion even Holyfield and Haye had easier fights.
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    Default Re: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    Yep like his choice of first opponent here.

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    Default Re: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    Quote Originally Posted by Beanz View Post
    Ortiz or Povetkin .

    Usyk's Promoter gives either fight a 70% chance of happening -





    In 2018, Usyk signed a co-promotional agreement with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom. Hearn represents several top heavyweights - including Dillian Whyte, Jarrell Miller, Dereck Chisora - and IBF, IBO, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
    The lead promoter for Usyk is Alexander Krasyuk of K2 Ukraine.
    “At the present moment, we are negotiating with no one. Usyk and his team are presently having a much needed rest. But I can already tell you that we are experiencing problems finding a suitable opponent”, said Krasyuk stated to the Ukrainian media.
    “[Joseph] Parker and [Jarrell] Miller both refused to fight Alexander. Takam has called Dereck Chisora. [Dillian] Whyte will most probably fight [Anthony] Joshua in April. We have only Alexander Povetkin (34-2, 24 KOs) and Luis Ortiz (30-1, 26 KOs) left amongst the top-notch heavyweights. We have a 70% chance that Oleksandr fights one of them in his first bout as a heavyweight.

    "If those options fail, we can have a mandatory defense against Denis Lebedev (32-2, 23 KOs) in March. We’re planning to meet with Eddie Hearn at the end of the next week to talk more about our options”.

    https://www.boxingscene.com/promoter...ebedev--135235
    Quote Originally Posted by Beanz View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by powerpuncher View Post
    I still think that Ortiz is the worst option for Usyk. He is the only HW that is technically close to as good as him. I think Povetkin would be a good showcase fight.
    Either might be a big ask for his first Heavyweight fight but would be top notch entertainment. I think he is way to quick for Oritz at his age and can keep away until he tires just like he did with Bellew. Povetkin is an entirely different proposition and will be trying to take Usyks head off from the first bell. It could be absolutely mental, a barnstormer of a fight.
    Could be a nailed on classic while it lasts.
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    Default Re: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    This could be a great scrap. If Povetkin has anything left, it could also be a big mistake by Matchroom. If Usyk does a number on Povetkin in his 1st fight at HW, he will be right in the mix.
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    Default Re: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    Remember that Huck came up and almost beat Povetkin years back. Usyk is much better than Huck and Povetkin is much older. I don’t see this being competitive.

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    Default Re: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    Usyk is going to bend povetkin over his knee and give him a spanking... Povetkin doesn't jab or moves his head or his feet as well as usyk... Usyk is in his prime too and povetkin is slowing down noticeably... Don't know if usyk has the power to KO povetkin but he'll have fun jsut jabbing and tiring him out early then ramping up the power punches later...

    This fight should also be held in crimea :S

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    Default Re: Oleksander Usyk vs. Alexander Povetkin planned for May 18 in Chicago

    Can really see Usyk sharpshooting Povetkin to a late stool stoppage. May sound nuts and respect to Povetkin but the man has some hard wear and tear by now. Crazy to think that Usyk is hitting heavyweight debut with a guy just removed from AJ and one steak too many from facing Wilder. And Chicago top marketing.

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