Povetkin Sykes Preview

This is a preview of the upcoming fight between Alexander "The Russian Knight" Povetkin (15-0-0) and Taurus Sykes (25-4-1) coming up this Satuday July 19th. Povetkin has a lot at stake by taking this fight because he already has gotten a mandatory position from the IBF to face IBF/WBO/IBO heayweight champion Wladimir "Steelhammer" Klitschko later this year.

Sykes doesn't look like a bad boxer, in fact in his last fight he lost a close decision to former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, but doesn't have much punching power it seems. Out of his 25 victories only 7 were by KO/TKO. I believe Povetkin should get by Sykes without much difficulty, but this opponent has none of the attributes that he will face when coming up against Wladimir. So I don't see this fight giving him any benefit other than another win and some extra confidence.