IF Dillian Whyte is looking for inspiration when he dusts
himself off and makes his inevitable return he only needs to look at the man
who sensationally knocked him cold on Saturday night for inspiration. For Alexander
Povetkin, an old school Russian villain and a master in the art of reinvention,
a KO defeat is just one of numerous setbacks he’s managed to turn to his
advantage.
The power-punching technician came up second best against
Wladimir Klitschko in 2012 – dropped four times, humbled and widely outscored –
long before he was thumped to defeat by Anthony Joshua in seven rounds six
years later to leave many presuming Alexander Povetkin was little more than a
name that was there for the taking. Add to that the different drug tests he
failed in-between his losses, the blame he’s swerved and the piddly bans he’s
served. Then consider the subsequent fortune he’s amassed, thanks largely to
Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn – initially with one eye on making the Joshua bout
– showcasing him on five consecutive pay-per-view events, and the dreams he dutifully
wrecked with one calamitous swing of his left in that same promoter’s back
garden. Not only a tale of redemption, then, but a lesson, surely, to those who
should have known better.
To some, Povetkin will always be tainted goods because of the
performance enhancers he allegedly took, yet it’s the failure of the boxing authorities
and the powerbrokers to suitably punish him that is arguably the biggest crime
of all. But if one can ignore all that, and in 2020 we have little choice but
to turn a blind eye to the seismic rule-breaking that is all too common, then Povetkin
must be recognised not as a criminal but as a thick-skinned fighter of substantial
pedigree, skill and menace who has rode the crooked system with aplomb.
The 2004 Olympic champion – even at nearly 41 years old and even
after being dropped twice in the fourth round to underline his wear and tear – still
had the wisdom and ability to get 32-year-old Whyte exactly where he wanted him
in the fifth. Stalking and probing, watching and waiting, Povetkin forced his
rival to the ropes, flicked him into position with a left before dipping low, eyeing
the hole in his opponent’s guard and hurling a ruinous left uppercut straight through
it. The Brixton man prepared his body for impact but the blow soared upwards
and the force caused Whyte’s misplaced head first to swivel on his neck, then to
collapse and all semblance of coherence to disappear from his brain. The punch not
so much turned out the lights but ploughed a wrecking ball through the entire
building.
The silent shock and distress from ringsiders and
commentators only volumized the extent of the disaster.
Leading up to the explosion, those ringsiders and
commentators sang a wholly different tune. Whyte was in total command, it
appeared. In command, they thought, from the moment he removed his bullet-proof
vest that read ‘Maximum Violence’ and then peeled off the t-shirt beneath to
reveal an altogether more impressive physique than the one he’d almost
apologetically exhibited while labouring to a 10-round victory over Mariusz Wach
in Saudi Arabia nine months ago.
With the product of an arduous training camp in Portugal in
place, Whyte – after swapping long-time trainer Mark Tibbs with Xavier Miller
and giving Dave Coldwell a late call-up to assist – went to work. A quiet
opener was followed by a commanding second. He pounded the body of Povetkin
with left hooks and his long outstretched jab was enough of a distraction to
dissuade the Russian from venturing too close.
But Povetkin was in the fight. There were moves to his left and right, shuffles forward and back, and jabs and hooks thrown more as decoys than anything else. A fighting man of significant ring intelligence, Povetkin was gathering information on his rival to enhance the homework he had already done. By the end the third, after taking more hearty whacks to the midsection, he was getting closer and a left hand whizzed past Whyte’s chin in a warning that was largely ignored.
Everything changed in the fourth. The Englishman scored with
a gnashing left hand that followed two booming right crosses and it caught
Povetkin as he was trying to change position. Down he went, off balance, and hopes
of a dramatic home victory raised significantly. Povetkin regained his footing before
Whyte reached a neutral corner. Dillian tempered the attack as Povetkin plotted
his. He switched from head to body, attempted an uppercut but was beaten to the
punch by a left hook-cum-uppercut from Whyte’s left hand that sent him down
again. It was another brief stay on the canvas before the bell sounded to end
the dramatic session.
After 30 seconds of the fifth round, Whyte was unconscious on
the deck and his pre-fight promise of maximum violence realised as referee Mark
Lyson waived the count above him. Dillian’s long-awaited shot at a world belt
was seemingly even further away than it was 1,000 days ago when he took his
place atop the WBC heavyweight rankings. Yet the overused narrative that Whyte has
been hard done by, that he’s been unlucky and ignored all along, must now be
replaced by the truth that, through his own hard work, the sport turned his
life around and during those 1,000 days made him a very rich man indeed.
Though we are led to believe that Whyte has been criminally
overlooked, he was offered chances to cement his WBC title shot along the way. Presented
with a lucrative opportunity, too, to fight old rival Joshua last year before
Andy Ruiz Jnr eventually accepted the role and shocked the world. Whyte went elsewhere
with Oscar Rivas – came out the other side of an ugly brush with UKAD as an innocent
man – and now, whether the rematch clause with Povetkin is triggered or not, he
remains in the privileged pay-per-view position he’s been in for a long time. Crucially,
he’s still a key player in a fascinating heavyweight division where one defeat
does not mean the end of the line.
There is every reason to believe Whyte can regroup. He did so
magnificently following the stoppage loss to Joshua in 2015, after all. The
question marks over his punch resistance will intensify but there isn’t a heavyweight
on the planet without similar uncertainty hanging over their heads such is the heftiness
of the punches being thrown in the modern era.
One hopes Whyte again focuses only on what he can control, dispenses
with concerns that he’s not getting what he deserves and puts to one side the falsehood
that the boxing world is against him. If it was against him, or indeed
Povetkin, neither would have got this far.
The best fight of the night, of Matchroom’s entire four-week
Fight Camp and arguably of the year to date, came in chief-support of this pay-per-view
event when Katie Taylor again outpointed the ludicrously rugged Delfine
Persoon over 10 savage rounds.
Fourteen long months ago in New York – back when face masks
were only worn by bank robbers and travelling abroad was not a risk but a
pleasure – Taylor was judged somewhat fortunate by most observers to get the
verdict over her demonic Belgian rival after a hellacious affair that thrilled
all lucky enough to witness. The thinking this time was that Taylor, by far the
more skilled, would be too clever and good and disciplined to not get drawn
into that kind of firefight again.
But this was more of the same. Persoon survived some horrific
facial injuries (broken nose, both cheeks contorted and bloody) to leave Taylor
nursing a potato-sized swelling on her forehead at the end. Again, this was a
very close encounter that was awarded to the Irishwoman. Unanimous scores of 98-93
(tabled by Victor Loughlin) and two tallies of 96-94 (Mr Lyson and John Latham)
that matched BN’s card meant that Taylor remains unbeaten and the
undisputed lightweight champion.
After appearing to boss the first of this Mr John Lewis-officiated
bout, Taylor scored with a three-punch combination in the second, moved off and
changed direction to frustrate Persoon who instinctively swung at thin air. A
left and right followed from Katie and Persoon emerged from the swift but
hearty shellacking looking like an expanding gobstopper stolen from Willy Wonka’s
Chocolate Factory was lodged in her right cheek. The hideous swelling grew
quickly, ripped open and blood trickled down her face. Afterwards, Persoon spoke
of also breaking her nose in this round.
The injuries were joined in the fourth by another under her left
eye. It looked like a left hand did the damage but the heads were colliding
regularly in what was already a brutal affair. No matter. Persoon’s truly
astonishing ability to ignore pain coupled with her must-throw-punches-no-matter-what
mindset ensured the injuries were never anything more than a nuisance to her.
In the seventh, it looked like Persoon might take over. A
horrible swelling rampaged from Taylor’s forehead after a sustained attack
(though whether a punch or limb or skull caused it is uncertain) and her
breathing intensified. During the minute-breaks, Taylor desperately gulped back
air and must have wondered why on earth she’d agreed to fight this freak of
nature again.
In keeping with the rollercoaster nature of their rivalry,
Taylor – who must only be applauded for her efforts – came back to life at the
start of the final session. She snapped back the bruised and swollen head of
her enemy with a right hand and, at the final bell, looked to have produced
enough classy work to edge ahead.
It’s hard to fault Taylor’s approach. She feinted, she moved
and at times bewildered Persoon with sharp counters and well-placed
combinations. But the challenger, unlike what the boxing rule book will tell
you, never once reset herself in an effort to avoid them nor acknowledged the shots
coming her way. Instead the policewoman motored after her opponent, like Robocop
in a bullet storm, and threw punch after punch after punch; attacks so
frenzied, in fact, that at times they made a mockery of the longstanding basics
of boxing.
In the end, though, the right fighter – and the right approach – won the day.
Zak Chelli looked a comfortable victor after
10 hard-fought rounds with Jack Cullen. Boxing News had the Londoner
up 97-93, mirroring the opinion of judge Mr Lyson. The other two scoring officials
disagreed, however, with Mr Loughlin scoring 96-95 in Cullen’s favour and Mr
John Lewis tallying 95 apiece.
Bolton’s Cullen gave this everything. He enjoyed success in
the early rounds and threatened to close his rival’s left eye in the fourth. Crucially,
perhaps, he had a decent 10th as Chelli – after dominating the ninth
with a series of brisk attacks launched off his excellent jab – appeared to coast
safe in the knowledge he’d done enough. That should never be presumed, of
course; Cullen’s last round efforts likely rescued him a share of the spoils.
But Chelli’s performance after 11 months out was impressive.
He stayed low against his taller opponent, his lead hand was accurate and powerful,
and his looping blows carried significant snap. Ultimately, this draw will not
harm the progress of either. Mr Latham was the man in the middle.
Bermondsey’s Chris Kongo underlined his star potential
with a nine-round drubbing of the talented Luther Clay. The bout – for the
spurious WBO global welterweight trinket – was fought at a high pace and the
South Africa-born Clay, a university graduate from Bracknell, threatened to
take charge early.
He clipped Kongo several times with his right hand and was wise
to target his rival’s long and lean torso. Yet Kongo seized the initiative in
the fourth. A right hand buzzed Clay then in the fifth he seemed on the brink
of a stoppage triumph as he pinned his opponent to the ropes with a series of
ripping blows.
To his credit, Clay hanged tough, even rallying as Kongo
seemed to tire, but by the ninth it was he who was exhausted. Left hooks plunged
into Clay’s stomach as uppercuts socked back his chin. After a knockdown, and a
sustained assault, Clay’s corner threw in the towel and Mr Loughlin accepted
the surrender at 2-44 of the round.
In a one-sided mauling, Croatia’s Alen Babic ransacked
the defences of Shawndell Winters, an American from Harvey in Illinois,
dropping him in rounds one and two before Mr Latham ended it at 2-40 of the
second.
THE VERDICT: A huge setback for Whyte
but valuable to lessons to learn as the efforts of Taylor and Persoon are again
overshadowed by a huge heavyweight upset
RESULTS: Alexander Povetkin (224lbs), 36-2-1 (25), w tco 5 Dillian Whyte (252 1/4lbs), 27-2 (18); Katie Taylor (134 1/4lbs), 16-0 (6), w pts 10 Delfine Persoon (132 1/4lbs), 44-3 (18); Zak Chelli (164 1/2lbs), 7-1-1 (3), d pts 10 Jack Cullen (164 1/4lbs), 18-2-1 (9); Chris Kongo (145 1/4lbs), 12-0 (7), w rsf 9 Luther Clay (145 1/2lbs), 13-2 (5); Alen Babic (205lbs), 4-0 (4), w rsf 2 Shawndell Winters (194lbs), 13-4 (12).
THEY SAID:
Povetkin: “I was watching Whyte’s fights and taking into account that he was missing uppercuts from the left and the right. During my training, I was training on putting combinations around those shots.
“[But] I didn’t feel that I would finish the fight like this.
I was pretty confident in the fourth round that, even though I went down twice,
it was okay. It wasn’t too much damage.”
Whyte: “Can we get the rematch in December? I’m good, I’m good. It’s just one of those things where it just landed didn’t it. I was bossing it. It is what it is. Rematch. It’s cool, it’s all good. That’s what boxing is about.”
Taylor: “I thought I boxed a lot better than last time and I stuck to my boxing a bit more even though I got drawn in a few times… It’s always tough, you can’t relax in there against someone like Delfine. Even though you hit her with clean shots she just attacks all the time.”
Persoon: “This time I couldn’t hurt her and if you can’t hurt her, she gets around you and boxes well. This time I didn’t do enough. She has my respect, she deserved this time to win and I have no problem [with the decision].”