Dr. Steelhammer Klitschko Bullies Povetkin For 12 Rounds, Retains Heavyweight Titles
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Moscow, Russia (October 5th,2013)–Dr. Wladimir Klitschko is truly Dr. Steelhammer. For 12 rounds of chaotic madness, Klitschko bullied Alexander Povetkin, holding and headlocking him, pushing him down, pushing his head into a punch, general manhandling as dirty as it gets. One might say Klitschko did what he had to do, but it was an nasty ugly war to see.
Forearms, elbows, uppercuts during the break, Klitschko got the job done. However, referee Luis Pabon just would not call Wladimir for his blatant infractions from round one on. It was not until round 11 that Pabon took a point away from Klitschko for shoving Povetkin to the canvas, which happened before the point got taken away and happened afterwards.
Povetkin was too short, and his overhand right kept falling six inches short of the mark. Povetkin never worked to the body, and never threw punches on the inside after Klitschko held him and tied him up. Povetkin had fire in the first round, and at least for the first six rounds, made a go of it. Klitschko in fact appeared terrified of getting hit by Povetkin. A straight right jab to the face dropped Povetkin for a flash knockdown in the second round. It was not until the seventh round, when Klitschko dropped Povetkin three times for a 10-6 rounds, that the momentum truly swung Wladimir’s way.
Rounds seven through 12 featured Povetkin still coming forward trying to fight his way in, but only showing heart but few punches for the most part. About 25,000 fans watched the 23 million dollar extravaganza at Olimiyskiy in Moscow, Russia. Klitschko briefly stumbled in the 11 when he foot was stepped on, but the action was limited to that.
Holding and hitting, pushing Povetkin’s head into the punch and uppercutting him after a headlock, Klitschko used all the big tricks of the trade leaning on Povetkin in clinches which Lennox Lewis employed effectively during his heavyweight championship reign. Klitschko did not looked like he broke a sweat. However, he never succeeding in breaking the heart of Povetkin. In some other arenas with a less favorable arena, Klitschko would have had more points taken away and could have been disqualified for holding and pushing. Povetkin came forward all night and fought cleanly. Real Combat Media scored the bout 115-106 for Dr. Klitschko, giving Povetkin rounds one and eight, and taking an additional two points away from Klitschko for repeated holding and shoving.
Povetkin, from Chekhov, Russia, falls to 26-1, 18 knockouts. Dr. Wladimir Klitschko, Kiev, Ukraine, rises to 61-3, 51 knockouts.
Result: Dr. Wladimir Klitschko Win 12 Alexander Povetkin
Dr. Klitschko retains the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO World Heavyweight Titles
Povetkin was down in round two, and was down three times in round six
Scoring: 119-104, 119-104, 119-104 for Klitschko
Referee: Luis Pabon
In a mild upset in the preliminary to the main event, Poland’s overprotected cruiserweight, 30-0 Mateusz Masternak, took his chances in Germany in a bid to win the European Cruiserweight title, and got knocked out in the eleventh round by Grigory ‘Pretty Boy Drozd, of Chekhov, Russia, now 37-1 with 26 knockouts. Drozd, 34, who lost a WBA eliminator to First Arslan in 2006, could get a shot at WBA World cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones or WBC World Cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Woldarczyk, WBO World Cruiserweight champion Marco Huck or IBF World Cruiserweight champion Yoan Pablo Hernandez with this big win.
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