Alexander Povetkin

Alexander Povetkin
Statistics
Real name Александр Поветкин
Nickname(s) Sasha/White Lion/Knight/Tsar (also spelled Zar)
Rated at Heavyweight
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Reach 191 cm (75 in)
Nationality  Russian
Born September 2, 1979 (1979-09-02) (age 32)
Kursk, Russia
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 23
Wins 23
Wins by KO 16
Losses 0
Draws 0
No contests 0
Medal record
Men’s Boxing
Competitor for  Russia
Olympic Games
Gold 2004 Athens Super Heavyweight
World Amateur Championships
Gold 2003 Bangkok Super Heavyweight
European Amateur Championships
Gold 2002 Perm Super Heavyweight
Gold 2004 Pula Super Heavyweight

Alexander Vladimirovich Povetkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Пове́ткин; born September 2, 1979 in Kursk, Soviet Union) is a Russian boxer. He is the current WBA heavyweight title holder. Because of his amateur success, as well as his early pro accomplishments, he is seen as a leading contender in professional boxing's heavyweight division. Trained by Teddy Atlas, Povetkin won the WBA title after defeating Ruslan Chagaev in August 2011 by unanimous decision.

Contents

Amateur

After a successful amateur kickboxing career that included winning World Junior championship in 1997, World title in 1999 and a European professional kickboxing title in 2000, Povetkin won his first major boxing tournament at the Russian Championships in 2000 at the age of 21. This would be the beginning of several major amateur tournaments Povetkin would go on to win including; the Good Will Games in Brisbane, Australia in 2001; the 34th European Championship in 2002; the XII World Championship in 2003 held in Thailand; and the 35th European Championship in 2004. His amateur success would culminate in winning the gold medal at super-heavyweight (>91 kg) boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, in a walkover match over Egyptian Mohamed Aly. After taking Olympic Gold, he concluded his amateur career with a record of 125–7, with all losses avenged.[1]

Amateur boxing competition record

Date Competition Location Result
August 2004 Olympic games Athens 1st place
February 2004 European championship Pula 1st place
November 2003 24th Copenhagen cup Copenhagen 1st place
July 2003 World amateur championships Banghok 1st place
May 2003 Russian championship Ulyanovsk 2nd place
April 2003 22nd Gee Bee tournament Helsinki 1st place
March 2003 International competition Warsaw 1st place
February 2003 54th Strandja Cup Plovdiv 1st place
November 2002 Russian championship Vladivostok 1st place
October 2002 International tournament Warsaw 1st place
July 2002 European championship Perm 1st place
May 2002 Russian championship Rostov 1st place
March 2002 International tournament Rome 1st place
February 2002 53nd Strandja Cup Plovdiv 1st place
November 2001 Oil cup Nizhne-Vartovsk 1st place
October 2001 International tournament "Gold Ring" Podolsk 1st place
September 2001 Goodwill games Brisbane 1st place
June 2001 World amateur championships Belfast 5th place
March 2001 Russian championship Saratov 1st place
March 2001 International tournament Halle 2nd place
November 2000 Russian championship Samara 1st place
March 2000 Russian Cup Perm 3rd place

Amateur Boxing Highlights

Kickboxing competition record

Date Competition Location Result
June 2000 European championships (professional) Nicosia 1st place
November 1999 W.A.K.O. World Championships 1999 Caorle 1st place
May 1998 Baltic countries cup Kaliningrad 1st place
September 1997 World Junior championship (under 19) Moscow 1st place

Pro career

2005

After winning the gold medal, Povetkin took a year off before making the decision to turn pro. After meeting with several fight promoters, Povetkin signed a contract to fight for Sauerland Events. Unlike other promoters, Sauerland would allow Povetkin to train mainly in his native Russia, and fight primarily out of Germany. Povetkin made his professional debut in Germany June 11, 2005 by defeating German Muhammed Ali Durmaz by second round TKO. He followed that victory, in September, with a fourth round KO over Cerrone Fox and then by a first round KO over John Castle less than a month later, although Castle was a last minute replacement for another fighter. In November, Povetkin won a one-sided four round decision over Canadian Stephane Tessier and finished off the year by gaining a TKO in 5 win over American Willie Chapman in December.

2006

Povetkin stated early in the year that he wanted to fight five times in 2006. His first fight on his way of accomplishing this happened on March 4, 2006 when Povetkin scored a 2nd round TKO over Nigerian 1992 Olympic bronze medal winner Richard Bango. Though Bango had some success in the first round, Povetkin rallied, to not only win that round, but to knock out Bango in the next.

For his next fight, on April 22, Povetkin signed up for his most important fight up until that date by facing Friday Ahunanya. Povetkin vs. Ahunanya drew attention in the boxing community because Ahunanya was believed to be a tough opponent for someone with only six fights. Despite this, the fight was fairly one-sided and Povetkin won a by clear unanimous decision.

He followed up those wins with a third round KO in Hannover, Germany on June 3, 2006 against Ecuador's Livin Castillo, Povetkin's first south paw opponent, and a fifth round KO on September 23, 2006 against veteran American Ed Mahone in Wetzlar, Germany.

His final fight of the year was held on December 10 against ex-Cruiserweight title holder Imamu Mayfield. Mayfield became Povetkin's opponent after original opponent Ross Purrity was injured before the fight. It was Povetkin's first pro fight in his native Russia and was held on the undercard of Oleg Maskaev's first WBC title defense; the first time a heavyweight championship bout was held in Russia. Povetkin won the fight by way of a KO in the third round, bringing his total record to 10 wins in 10 fights by the end of the year.

2007

On March 3, 2007 Povetkin scored another TKO, this time over experienced American, David Bostice. The fight ended in the second round. Following that fight, Povetkin had a more of a stay busy fight, winning for the fifth straight time by KO, this time in the second round over Canada's Patrice L'Heureux.

Alexander Povetkin's next fight June 30, 2007, was against experienced American contender, Larry Donald. Donald held victories over such illustrious figures as ex-champion Evander Holyfield as well narrowly losing his last fight prior to Povetkin, in a close decision to former belt holder Nicolay Valuev. Donald was considered, by many, to be a very good test for a prospect such as Povetkin, a test that Povetkin passed decisively, winning every round of the ten round confrontation (unanimous decision win).

This was the first time that Povetkin had gone the full distance of ten rounds in a professional boxing fight, though he did go ten rounds as a pro kick-boxer. The win over Donald was considered very solid and Povetkin continued his emergence as a promising heavyweight boxing contender.

IBF Tournament

In July, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) announced it had created a four person tournament to create a challenger for current IBF (and WBO) champion Wladimir Klitschko.

On October 27, 2007 Povetkin met former title holder Chris Byrd, who had lost his title to Klitschko the year before. Povetkin won the fight by way of an 11th round TKO victory. Byrd put up more resistance than Donald, but ultimately, was overwhelmed and his corner threw in the towel.

Less than a week later, Eddie Chambers won a split decision victory over former title challenger Calvin Brock. This advanced both Povetkin and Chambers to the final round of the tournament. On January 26, 2008, after initial problems Povetkin defeated Chambers by unanimous decision to become the mandatory challenger for Klitschko. On July 19, 2008, Povetkin KOd Taurus Sykes in the fourth round.

He was supposed to challenge Wladimir Klitschko on December, 13th 2008. On October 25, Povetkin withdrew from the fight against Klitschko due to an injury suffered. However, the IBF announced that Klitschko will still have to fight Povetkin until 13 September 2009, an option that was not exercised.

2009

After nine months inactivity due to his injury, Povetkin won a comeback against once-beaten PanAm amateur champion Jason Estrada on April 4, 2009 by unanimous decision.[2] On July 10, 2009 Teddy Atlas announced on Friday Night Fights that Povetkin would be temporary relocated to New York under his helm, where he can train him full time. On December 5, Povetkin fought in Ludwigsburg, Germany, against Leo Nolan, winning with a third round KO.

2010

On March 13, 2010 Povetkin continued his unbeaten run beating Javier Mora in decisive action dropping him in the first, second and fifth rounds leading to the referee stopping the fight declaring him the winner by TKO.

2011

After Wladimir Klitschko unified his WBO & IBF titles with David Haye's WBA title, Klitchko was upgraded to "Super Champion" by the WBA, thus making the WBA title vacant. On August 27, 2011, with Teddy Atlas in his corner, Alexander Povetkin bested Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev by unanimous decision to earn the WBA heavyweight crown at the Messehalle arena in Erfurt, Germany. Povetkin (22-0) withstood a middle-round challenge from Chagaev (27–2–1), but worked his foe into submission in the later rounds of the bout. He walked away victorious thanks to 117–113, 117–113 and 116–112 scorecards.[3]

His first defense of the WBA title was against the American heavyweight contender Cedric Boswell, on December 3, 2011, at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland. Povetkin won the fight by 8th round KO.[4]

Personal life

Povetkin has a wife, Irina, and a four-year old daughter named Arina. He also has a brother, Vladimir, who fights as a professional light heavyweight. Both fighters were trained by Valery Belov, however Alexander Povetkin is currently being trained by Teddy Atlas.

Professional boxing record

23 Wins (16 knockouts), 0 Losses, 0 Draws[5]
Res. Record Opponnent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
N/A N/A Marco Huck N/A N/A 2012-02-25 Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg Defending WBA Heavyweight title.
Win 23-0 Cedric Boswell KO 8 (12), 2:58 2011-12-03 Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Uusimaa Retained WBA Heavyweight title.
Win 22-0 Ruslan Chagaev UD 12 2011-08-27 Messehalle, Erfurt, Thüringen Won vacant WBA Heavyweight title.
Win 21-0 Nicolai Firtha UD 10 2010-12-18 Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin
Win 20-0 Teke Oruh KO 5 (10), 2:57 2010-10-16 Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, Chenkov, Moscow Oblast
Win 19-0 Javier Mora TKO 5 (10), 0:50 2010-03-13 Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin Javier Mora down in rounds 1 and 2.
Win 18-0 Leo Nolan KO 3 (10), 2:33 2009-12-05 Arena Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg
Win 17-0 Jason Estrada UD 10 2009-04-04 Burg-Waechter Castello, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Win 16-0 Taurus Sykes TKO 4 (10), 1:43 2008-07-19 Olimpyskiy Sports Palace, Chenkov, Moscow Oblast
Win 15-0 Eddie Chambers UD 12 2008-01-26 Tempodrom, Kreuzberg, Berlin IBF final Heavyweight title eliminator.
Win 14-0 Chris Byrd TKO 11 (12), 1:52 2007-10-27 Messehalle, Erfurt, Thüringen IBF semi-final Heavyweight title eliminator.
Win 13-0 Larry Donald UD 10 2007-06-30 Olympisky Sport Hall, Moscow, Central Federal District
Win 12-0 Patrice L'Heureux KO 2 (10), 1:02 2007-05-26 Jako Arena, Bamberg, Bayern
Win 11-0 David Bostice TKO 2 (10), 2:57 2007-03-03 Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Win 10-0 Imamu Mayfield KO 3 (10) 2006-12-10 Olympisky Sport Hall, Moscow, Central Federal District
Win 9-0 Ed Mahone TKO 5 (8), 2:05 2006-09-23 Rittal Arena, Wetzlar, Hessen
Win 8-0 Livin Castillo TKO 4 (8), 2:45 2006-06-03 TUI Arena, Hannover, Niedersachsen
Win 7-0 Friday Ahunanya UD 6 2006-04-22 SAP-Arena, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg
Win 6-0 Richard Bango KO 2 (6), 2:20 2006-03-04 EWE Arena, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen
Win 5-0 Willie Chapman TKO 5 (6) 2005-12-17 Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin
Win 4-0 Stephane Tessier UD 4 2005-11-12 Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, Hamburg
Win 3-0 John Castle RTD 1 (4), 3:00 2005-10-01 EWE Arena, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen
Win 2-0 Cerrone Fox TKO 4 (4), 2:37 2005-09-03 Internationales Congress Centrum, Charlottenburg, Berlin
Win 1-0 Muhammed Ali Durmaz TKO 2 (4), 1:23 2005-06-11 BigBox, Kempten, Bayern Alexander Povetkin's professional debut.

References

  1. ^ Povetkin beats Chambers, earns shot at heavyweight title. Sports.espn.go.com (2008-01-27). Retrieved on 2011-10-03.
  2. ^ Владимир Кличко должен встретиться с Поветкиным до 13 сентября 2009 года. Sports.ru (2008-11-09). Retrieved on 2011-10-03.
  3. ^ "Alexander Povetkin - Boxer". Boxrec.com. http://boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=318081&cat=boxer. Retrieved 2011-11-27. 
  4. ^ "BoxRec Boxing Records". Boxrec.com. http://boxrec.com/show_display.php?show_id=629266. Retrieved 2011-11-27. 
  5. ^ Alexander Povetkin – Boxer. Boxrec.com.

External links

Vacant
Title last held by
David Haye		 WBA Heavyweight Champion
27 August 2011 – present		 Incumbent
1984 – 2008: over 91 kg

1984: Tyrell Biggs (USA) • 1988: Lennox Lewis (CAN) • 1992: Roberto Balado (CUB) • 1996: Wladimir Klitschko (UKR) • 2000: Audley Harrison (GBR) • 2004: Aleksandr Povetkin (RUS) • 2008: Roberto Cammarelle (ITA)
1982 – 2011: over 91 kg

1982: Tyrell Biggs (USA)  · 1986: Teófilo Stevenson (CUB)  · 1989: Roberto Balado (CUB)  · 1991: Roberto Balado (CUB)  · 1993: Roberto Balado (CUB)  · 1995: Alexei Lezin (RUS)  · 1997: Georgi Kandelaki (GEO)  · 1999: Sinan Şamil Sam (TUR)  · 2001: Ruslan Chagaev (UZB)  · 2003: Aleksandr Povetkin (RUS)  · 2005: Odlanier Solís (CUB)  · 2007: Roberto Cammarelle (ITA)  · 2009: Roberto Cammarelle (ITA)  · 2011: Magomedrasul Majidov (AZE)

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