Alexander Povetkin has picked his winner of the much-anticipated world heavyweight title rematch later this month.
The Russian has been talking about the unified return between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs).
Joshua was dethroned by ex-undisputed cruiserweight king Usyk, for the WBA Super, IBO, IBF and WBO titles in the sport’s premier division, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London 11 months ago and gets his opportunity of revenge in the desert in just over a week’s time.
The Jeddah Superdome will play host to the clash which is being exclusively broadcast on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK after they paid a staggering £23million for the rights.
And Povetkin, who was cleaned out by Joshua in the seventh round when the pair met for the same titles in September 2018, is backing the Ukrainian to do a job on his former foe.
According to Russian newspaper Sovetsky Sport,Povetkin told Match TV:
“I will root for Usyk. In the first fight, he did everything right, did not miss.”
Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) is a former Olympic champion as an amateur, just like Joshua and Povetkin, but he forgot about boxing and, in February, joined the Kyiv Territorial Defense just days after Russia invaded Ukraine.
And Povetkin, who retired last year with a record of 36 wins, three defeats and one draw, with 25 quick finishes, believes he will get the better of ‘AJ’ for a second time on August 20.
“The only thing here is if Joshua changes something in his preparation and plan, then something may be different.”
“But I think that Usyk should win.”