Alexander Povetkin Throws Promoters Under the Bus!
On August 31, veteran heavyweight Alexander “Russian Vityaz” Povetkin (34-2, 24 KO’s) will face the challenge of Hughie Fury (23-2, 13 KO’s) in the O2 Arena, located in Greenwich, UK. The match will appear on the under-card of the highly anticipated Vasiliy Lomachenko versus Luke Campbell lightweight title fight.
Preceding this fight, numerous boxing heads have openly questioned Povetkin’s decision to not tangle with top rated heavyweight Tyson Fury instead. The overtly verbose Gypsy King made it public knowledge that the bout was available to the former WBA heavyweight champion. The cousin of Hughie, would have made for a significantly bigger fight and a notably larger payday.
The skilled Russian boxer means to claim a world title again at some point. Although, at age 39, he does not have fights to squander. For these reasons, many on the outside of the business dealings felt as if Povetkin was simply avoiding the stiffer challenge.
In a recent interview conducted by Behind the Gloves, when directly asked about the puzzling decision, Povetkin opted to pass the buck rather than provide a definitive response.
“This question should be put to my promoters. I would have possibly preferred to fight Tyson Fury because that would be more interesting for me and it would be better enumerated. More money and I would like to fight him, but really you need to ask my promoter why they arranged this fight.”
The response is both odd and evasive because It’s literally fight week! There is little doubt that Povetkin himself has asked why this was the fight they chose. Also, having had the conversation, the Russian pugilist could have just said why.
Additionally, he should have an answer by now. However, rather than provide it, Povetkin chose to throw his promoter Andrey Ryabinsky, of World of Boxing, under the bus.
Regardless, the former champion did not provide definitive information on why he is fighting what most feel is the knockoff Fury.
By: Bakari Simpson
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