In a professional boxing career that has been going on for over 13 years, only one person has managed to deny Alexander Povetkin victory. The Russian has an Olympic gold medal as well as other continental and world medals to his credit. Although this goes back to his time as an amateur fighter, he has also achieved considerable success as a professional and has held the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title for several years.
Unfortunately, the achievements of his boxing career were somewhat overshadowed by the failure of a series of drug tests that eventually banned him. Let us learn more about Mr. Povetkin, shall we?
Alexander Povetkin Age, Early Life, and Rise to Fame
Povetkin was born Alexander Vladimirovich Povetkin on September 2, 1979, in Kursk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. Already at a very young age, Povetkin is said to have shown great strength and athleticism, which kept his head and shoulders above his peers at school. His father, who was a boxer, took note of this and enrolled him in a local boxing studio, where he began to learn boxing and other fighting styles such as wushu, karate, and kickboxing.
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When the Soviet Union collapsed, Povetkin began to focus on kickboxing and won numerous regional titles before moving on to the national and international stage. He won a number of amateur titles in kickboxing, including the 1997 World Junior Championships, the 1999 W.A.K.O. World Championships, and the European Professional Kickboxing Title in 2000, before deciding to focus exclusively on boxing.
At only 21 years of age, Alexander Povetkin registered for the Russian Championships 2000, his first major boxing tournament ever, which he then won. Other tournaments he won during this time were the Good Will Games 2001 in Australia, the European Championships 2002, the XII. World Championship 2003, the European Championship 2004, and then the Olympic Games 2004 in Athens, after which he decided to become a professional. Povetkin achieved a very impressive amateur record of 125-7 and most importantly, he managed to avenge all his seven defeats.
Alexander Povetkin Pro Boxing Career
Alexander Povetkin made his professional fighting debut on June 11, 2005, when he entered the boxing world with a technical knockout in the second round against German boxer Muhammad Ali Durmaz. He had four more fights this year, which he won by KOs, apart from one which was my decision. Povetkin did no harm to his reputation in 2006 when he brought his professional record to 10-0, with all but one fight won by knockout.
The Russian began his third year as a professional with knockout victories over American David Bostic and Canadian Patrice L’Heureux. His third fight in 2007 was considered to be his biggest test yet, as he was up against American Larry Donald, who had beaten former undisputed heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield. Regardless of how the fight may have looked on paper for the Russian fighter, everything went as usual, even though his victory this time came by unanimous decision. He managed nine more victories against fighters like Taurus Sykes, Jason Estrada, and Javier Mora before he got the chance to fight against the Uzbek fighter Ruslan Chagaev for the vacant WBA (Regular) heavyweight title. Povetkin defeated his opponent by a unanimous decision.
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Alexander Povetkin managed to defend his title four times before he competed on October 5, 2013, against IBF, WBO, IBO, The Ring, and the linear heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who gave him his first defeat in his professional career by a unanimous decision on October 5, 2013. After this match, Povetkin took a six-month break before returning after the knockout win against Manuel Charr to win the vacant WBC international heavyweight title. A few months later, he added the silver WBC heavyweight title to his collection by knocking out French-Cameroonian fighter Carlos Takam.
Since the Takam fight, Povetkin has won the WBA Continental, WBO International, and WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight titles amidst a series of fines and suspensions for doping. Nevertheless, he has secured the obligatory challenger spot for the fight against the defending champion in the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight championship, Anthony Joshua.
Height, Weight, and Body Measurements
Heavyweight boxers are usually those who weigh more than 200 pounds (90 kg). It should therefore come as no surprise that Alexander Povetkin weighs about 228 pounds (103 kg). Alexander Povetkin height is also 6 feet (1.88 m) tall and has a reach of 75 inches (190 cm). As of the time of writing this article, his other body measurements are not known.
