TOPCLASS PREVIEW | ALEXANDER POVETKIN VS. MICHAEL HUNTER

By Lee Thornton – This weekend the world of Boxing will be treated to a very important heavyweight contest between Michael Hunter and Alexander Povetkin.

The winner of this fight places themselves firmly in the running to fight the likes of Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz Jr and Tyson Fury all massive fights that would excite fans of the sweet science.

Alexander Povetkin enters this fight with a record of 35-2 only handed losses in the professional ranks by Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. Povetkin has power in both hands and defensively uses a high guard and throws compact punches which causes his opponents trouble.

His opponent Michael Hunter on the other hand is a true throwback fighter taking on all challenges regardless of the time he has to train. Hunter holds wins in the amateurs over the likes of Andy Ruiz Jr and Oscar Rivas along with being a 2007 US Olympic trials Gold Medalist at Super Heavyweight.

Hunter possesses good hand speed, a vicious right hand and is an excellent finisher when sensing an opponent is hurt, also has an outstanding athletic ability and understands distance and timing very well.

When deciding to choose a winner in this fight many factors come into play, will Povetkin’s experience and competition faced in the heavyweight division be too much for Hunter to handle and how will Povetkin deal with the speed, awkwardness and defensive movement that Hunter brings to this contest.

I am picking the underdog Michael Hunter to win this fight, I believe Hunter will outwork Povetkin and that his speed and awkwardness will cause many issues in this fight.

If you look at Povetkin’s last fight vs Hughie Fury he was troubled in the first half of that fight by Fury’s movement, although a different style than Hunter they both possess the ability to cause issues due to unpredictability, however, the difference is Michael Hunter has power in both hands.

Excitement builds for this fight knowing Povetkin is still even at age 40 one of the most technical skilled boxers around, who has such a well rounded overall skill set including the ability to fight inside plus has shown in the past a very good chin.

My final thoughts are that Michael Hunter wins by decision I expect the elder Povetkin to slow down late in this fight and another aspect fans rarely mention when discussing Boxing is the mental aspect. Hunter has a supreme confidence in himself and constantly gains wisdom from spiritual leaders which allows him to be physically and mentally at his best.

I truly believe this is his time to shock the world once again as an underdog.