Boxing: Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Powetkin in the Head-to-Head

On Saturday, September 22nd, Anthony Joshua will face WBA challenger Alexander Powetkin at Wembley Stadium. In the fight, AJ defends its WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight belts. Spox compares the two boxers in the head-to-head.

The fight will be over… Watch live and exclusively on the DAZN streaming service.

Joshua has brought two well-known sparring partners to his side in preparation for the fight. For one thing, he’s training with Martin Bakole. AJ was already practicing with the man from the Congo before his preparation for the fight with Powetkin.

Agit Kabayel is the second boxer to support AJ in training. The 25-year-old German is currently European heavyweight champion and caused a sensation last year with his win over Dereck Chisora.

Joshua chose these two fighters because they resemble Powetkin in stature and style.

Povetkin has brought support from Munich’s boxing stable to Moscow. 23-year-old Croatian Peter Milas is to help the Russian win. AJ also brought the up-and-coming British heavyweight talent Daniel Dubois on board. Powetkin hopes that Dubois will give him an insight into the way Joshua fights, as he has trained with Joshua many times. He even claims to have knocked AJ down in a sparring match.

Spox judgement: draw

Anthony Joshua’s career, on the other hand, has always been steeply upwards. His rapid rise is also reflected in the number of fights he fought. AJ has had a total of 21 duels as a professional in the ring so far, but also had to fight against some big names such as Wladimir Klitscho. Like Powetkin, Joshua won a gold medal at the Olympic Games.

Powtekin fought 35 fights in his professional career, in addition there were several clashes in his time as an amateur. As a professional, the Russian only had to admit defeat once: In October 2013 Powetkin lost unanimously against Vladimir Klitschko on points. In 2016, the so-called Czar slowed down his career himself, as he was convicted of doping twice.

In terms of experience, Powetkin is well ahead of its 11-year younger competitor. AJ won’t be able to surprise the Russian with anything he hasn’t experienced yet.

Spox judgement: Advantage Powetkin

Joshua’s flawless knockout rate against Parker is torn, but his clout remains undisputed: AJ won 20 of his 21 fights by knockout; where he hits, no grass grows so fast.

Powetkin, on the other hand, has 24 knockouts in 35 professional fights and also speaks for a hard punch. His most recent knockout win in March was against David Price in turn 5. Looking at his last fights, it is obvious that the Tsar often makes short work of his high power: six of his last eight knockouts were in turn 7 or earlier.

Nevertheless, compared to Joshua, the Russian clearly takes the short straw in this area.

Spox judgement: Advantage Joshua

Experts have long questioned Joshua’s taker qualities. Because his upper body remains stiff in some phases of the fight, there are gaps for the opponents in the defense. However, only a few have been able to take advantage of this so far: AJ went down against Vladimir Klitschko, but even with setbacks, the Briton has always proved that he can take it and come back.

Powetkin, on the other hand, confirms the cliché of the tough Russian: in his only defeat against Vladimir Klitschko, the Russian went down four times, but came back again and again. A knockout against the Russian will definitely be a difficult task for AJ.

Stamina is one of the areas Joshua worked on most in the run-up to the Parker fight. But he changed his training plan and lost muscle mass, so that he started a fight in March as thin as four years ago. His tactical approach has also improved: For example, if AJ exploded early in the fight against Klitschko and unnecessarily missed his powder, he showed against Parker that he is now splitting his forces better.

At 39, Powetkin is losing stamina. The Russian could get into trouble if he fights Joshua over the full range. Especially the aggressive style of the Czar is exhausting. Powetkin also showed impressively in his two fights in 2017 that he is still able to fight over 12 rounds at the highest level. Nevertheless, he is overall inferior to AJ in this area.

Joshua vs. Powetkin: Preparation to endurance

Joshua vs. Powetkin: Physical starting position until conclusion