The next key heavyweight bout as unified champion Anthony Joshua takes on the experienced Russian Alexander Povetkin on Saturday 22nd of September. The venue will be Wembley stadium in London in what is expected to be a fascinating contest as Joshua looks to set up a bout with WBC champion Deontay Wilder for all the belts. So what are the credentials of each fighter as the fight draws closer? Joshua is the heavy favourite with the bookmakers with many punters supporting him using the LVbet sportsbook.
Anthony Joshua
Joshua is going to be a short priced favourite here as his credentials are there for everyone to see. The 2012 London Olympic Gold medallist has continued to improve following his transition to the professional ranks and there is no doubt he is the current star of world boxing. Every fight is a stunning stadium event and a clash with Wilder is the biggest fight to be made at present, as both look to hold all the belts.
Joshua’s professional record stands at 21 victories with 20 stoppages, only being taken the distance by Joseph Parker. This was a dominant display in which the New Zealander seemed to focus more on making it to the bell than exchanging. Joshua has risen through the ranks at a meteoric rate before winning the IBF title against Charles Martin in 2016 with a second round stoppage. Martin was heavily criticized for this performance and become known for the second shortest reign in professional boxing history.
Joshua’s key fight was his unified clash against legend Wladimir Klitschko. In front of 90,000 he showed incredible battling qualities having to climb of the canvas before stopping Klitschko in the 11th round by TKO. This was a war and one of the true great heavyweight contests. This sealed Joshua as the leading heavyweight in the world. Two further successes have now led him to this mandatory clash with Povetkin but it will be a big surprise were he not to win this and set up a super fight for early next year.
Alexander Povetkin
Many would argue that Povetkin should not be contesting this fight having originally been given a lifetime ban for failing drug tests. This was then lifted and he was inserted back into the WBC rankings at the start of 2018. The Russian is without a doubt one of the leading heavyweights in world boxing.
Povetkin held the WBA heavyweight title between 2011 and 2013 and had an incredibly successful amateur career. He won the gold medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 2004 Olympics following winning consecutive golds at the European championships in both 2002 and 2004. He also won gold at the 2002 world championships.
This incredible amateur record has meant he has transition to the professional ranks with ease and now has a fight record of 34 victories and just 1 loss in his 35 fight career. His only defeat coming against Wladimir Klitschko via points. Povetkin is likely to pose one of the biggest tests to Joshua in the division and this is also likely to be the 39 years olds last chance of winning another heavyweight world title.
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