October 24th in Moscow Russia, a battle of two of the top heavyweights in the world will take place as Alexander Povetkin (27-1) takes on French-Cameroonian Carlos Takam for one of the WBC’s lesser belts (Silver).
Takam is an impressive (30-1-1) overall, and he is coming off a win over veteran divisional measuring stick Tony Thompson that saw him earn the WBC Silver belt. Takam also has a ‘world’ title from the World Boxing Federation and he holds the WBO African title and the WBC United States belt, but both of those titles were accumulated against veteran fighter Michael Grant and Frans Botha. For Takam, heading into Russia to face Povetkin will be by far the toughest test of his career.
Last year, Povetkin fought Wladimir Klitschko and notched the only defeat on his record, going the full twelve rounds. Klitschko dropped Povetkin 5 times in the fight leaving no doubt as to the winner, but Povetkin survived until the end and won a follow-up match, knocking well regarded Manuel Charr out in the 7th round. Povetkin brings his strong amateur resume and a much higher level of competition throughout his career, with wins over solid veterans Larry Donald, Chris Byrd, Eddie Chambers, Ruslan Chagaev, Marco Huck and Hashim Rahman.
Takam has his athleticism and his big punch, plus he is coming off the Thompson bout where he went the full twelve rounds, but there is little reason to think he is going to be able to stay with Povetkin. Povetkin will look to take the fight into the later rounds, slowly breaking down Takam over the course of the fight with technical boxing.
For Takam, the travel to Russia alone is something that will require an adjustment. The language, the alphabet, the people are very different. Russia is not known for being the most hospitable of hosts, and the crowd will be entirely pro-Povetkin. Though times have changed and the rules of boxing will be enforced well, and the judges will be only slightly biased, nothing will be easy for Takam, and Povetkin will use that advantage to stay calm and impose his will on the fight.
For his part, Takam has a great opportunity to establish himself as a threat in the Heavyweight division, if not to Klitschko himself, then at least as a contender in a post-Klitschko world.
