First off, that Cheeseman fight was entertaining as hell! As for Whyte, the more I heard him talking before the fight, the more I liked him - his attitude. And kudos to him for bringing over his stool immediately after the count for Povetkin' to sit on. That's some class.
My biggest takeaway from the fight though was that Povetkin clearly didn't look right the whole fight. And aside from that monster uppercut in the first fight, he didn't look all that good in their first fight. I hope he retires.
Povetkin hadn't looked [even close to] right all week - from arrivals, to public 'workouts', on the scales and during the ring walk. British press, broadcasters, promoters, dazn conveniently ignored this, so it's good to see a major journo call it out. Also great that Cheeseman and Metcalf are getting some coverage for leaving it all in the ring in an outstanding fight.
If boxing fans and media can ignore that Anthony Joshua was clearly compromised even before the fight started when he lost to Ruiz and then lavish praise on Ruiz for his win then it is strange that most of those very same fans and media following last night's result immediately pointed to an apparent problem with Povetkin and some seemingly doing so simply to devalue Whyte's win.
If Andy Ruiz deserved the praise he received for beating a clearly unwell Joshua, who btw required surgery after the fight to put right whatever was wrong as he indicated to Steve Bunce and Mike Costello after winning the rematch (see 5 mins or so into the interview hopefully linked below) then Whyte deserves praise for dealing with all the pressure and beating Povetkin last night.
Ted Cheeseman is never in a bad fight - he may not be the highest quality fighter but his fights are always exciting - can't wait for the Fowler fight.
First off, that Cheeseman fight was entertaining as hell! As for Whyte, the more I heard him talking before the fight, the more I liked him - his attitude. And kudos to him for bringing over his stool immediately after the count for Povetkin' to sit on. That's some class.
My biggest takeaway from the fight though was that Povetkin clearly didn't look right the whole fight. And aside from that monster uppercut in the first fight, he didn't look all that good in their first fight. I hope he retires.
Povetkin hadn't looked [even close to] right all week - from arrivals, to public 'workouts', on the scales and during the ring walk. British press, broadcasters, promoters, dazn conveniently ignored this, so it's good to see a major journo call it out. Also great that Cheeseman and Metcalf are getting some coverage for leaving it all in the ring in an outstanding fight.
If boxing fans and media can ignore that Anthony Joshua was clearly compromised even before the fight started when he lost to Ruiz and then lavish praise on Ruiz for his win then it is strange that most of those very same fans and media following last night's result immediately pointed to an apparent problem with Povetkin and some seemingly doing so simply to devalue Whyte's win.
If Andy Ruiz deserved the praise he received for beating a clearly unwell Joshua, who btw required surgery after the fight to put right whatever was wrong as he indicated to Steve Bunce and Mike Costello after winning the rematch (see 5 mins or so into the interview hopefully linked below) then Whyte deserves praise for dealing with all the pressure and beating Povetkin last night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiI5c2iUDY&t=3s
Ted Cheeseman is never in a bad fight - he may not be the highest quality fighter but his fights are always exciting - can't wait for the Fowler fight.