Wladimir Klitschko's Big 5: The Ukrainian powerhouse against the best Russian in boxing

Wladimir Klitschko's Big 5: The Ukrainian powerhouse against the best Russian in boxing

Another success without much pressure, came against the Russian Alexander Povetkin

For many years, Wladimir Klitschko beat the heavyweight competition in the professional boxing ring. The Ukrainian fighter, who shone at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, had a memorable career that started at the end of the last century. However, his strongest moments, most exciting matches and highlights fall in the 21st century, in which the younger of the Klitschko brothers has proven to be the better boxer. In five different articles, we recall his five best matches. We've already told you about the easy success over Kubrat Pulev, the drama of his first meeting with Samuel Peter and another win that came with enviable ease when he won his fourth title in the division, after refusing Ruslan Chagaev just before the end.

His meeting with the Russian Alexander Povetkin, who thought he was ready to dethrone Klitschko from the top, is also in the top five. The two boxers were waiting for their first meeting back in December 2008, but it did not take place due to Sasha's ankle injury. Two years later, Povetkin was again the reason they didn't meet, his team's explanation being that he had sinus problems that prevented him from flying from the United States to Germany. Eventually, on October 5, 2013, the two finally met.

Before the fight, Alexander Povetkin won the vacant World Boxing Association title, defeating Ruslan Chagaev at the end of August 2011. Earlier that year, Klitschko won the WBA super-heavyweight title after defeating David Haye to vacate the belt in question.

So, in practice, two WBA world champions, two Olympic champions, met in Moscow to measure forces and finally decide which of the two is better. Expectations for the fight were huge, as they faced each other the first in the ranking of the magazine "Ring" and the third in this ranking, which remains only behind his future opponent and the elder of the Vitali brothers. And Sasha still had no defeat in the professional ring in 26 matches.

However, everyone in the Russian capital remains disappointed with the production that the two provide in the ring at the Olympic Stadium. The difference of 10 centimeters in height turns out to be big enough to see another dominance of Wladimir. The Ukrainian again does not meet much resistance, but it seems he wants the match to last as long as possible, so that the home team can see the humiliating defeat of their favorite.

The most significant event in the match came in the seventh round, in which Povetkin was knocked down three times. In two of the knockdowns, Klitschko was visibly pushing his opponent, not just striking, and protests from the Russian's camp were not long in coming, but remained disrespected.

The fight really lasted until the very end, and after that it became clear that in the judges' cards there were 11 rounds on Klitschko's account and one that ended in a draw. Even with his penalty in the 11th round and the deduction of one point for pushing, the Ukrainian's visible dominance speaks for itself. In all three cards, the score is 119:104 for the world number one, who inflicts Povetkin's first loss and achieves his 61st success in the professional ring. He achieved it with a total of 4 knockdowns and without receiving a serious, heavy blow from his opponent, and that too on his own turf.

Matches like this should have told us that there are years ahead in boxing, in which we will not see anything very exciting in the heaviest, until someone is found to stop the dominance of Klitschko, but not to start his long streak of so easy and trouble-free victories, such as Vladimir achieved for a long time.