Klitschko Povetkin Early Prediction

On December 13th Wladimir "Steelhammer" Klitschko(54(45)-3-0) will defend his WBO/IBF/IBO heavyweight belts against IBF mandatory opponent Alexander "The White Lion" Povetkin(16(12)-0-0).

This looks like it will be a good match-up for Wladimir. Not necessarily because I think it will be challenging for Wladimir, but because other do highly praise Povetkin because of his superb amateur background(He avenged every loss at amateur), undefeated professional record, and great stamina/punch output. Also throw in the fact that Wladimir's home country is the Ukraine and Povetkin's is Russia, and you have an even more interesting match-up.

Unfortunately, I think Povetkin will suffer a huge defeat at the hands of Wladimir. I believe Povetkin is tailor made for Wladimir. Alex eats rights, which is one of Wladimir's most powerful punches, and is at a severe height disadvantage. This means in order for Povetkin to incorporate his "be hit to hit his opponent" strategy he's going to be hit by these bombs. We all seen what his face looked like after squeaking out a win over a much lighter fisted and shorter Eddie Chambers. Also, throw in the elements of Wladimir wanting to look good after 2 fights with southpaws that didn't look that great, his brothers recent stellar performance which will motivate him to look even better, and Povetkin's orthodox stance, and you will see a severe beating.

I believe if Wladimir unleashes his arsenal, the fight won't go past 5 rounds max. I don't think Wladimir will have trouble with getting shots on Povetkin at all. He's going to find it easy to hit an orthodox, shorter fighter, after fighting 2 southpaws in a row, who's not very good in defense skills. Povetkin might even suffer severe irreversible damage in this fight if he wishes to push his body too far out of pride of himself and country. So prediction: Wladimir KO by 5.