Alexander Povetkin survived two knockdowns to comeback and stop Dillian Whyte to win the WBC Interim Heavyweight Title at Matchroom HQ in Essex, England.
In round four, Whyte dropped Povetkin with a left hook to the side of he head. Late in the round, Whyte sent Povetkin to the deck for a 2nd time with a left uppercut.
In round five, Povetkin landed a booming left uppercut on the jaw to sent Whyte crashing to the canvas, and the fight was stopped at 30 seconds.
Povetkin, 224 lbs of Russia is 36-2-1 with 25 knockouts. Whyte, 256.6 lbs of Brixton is 27-2.
Alexander Povetkin
On being knocked down twice: “I didn’t feel that I would finish the fight like this. I was pretty confident in the 4th round that, even though I went down twice, it was OK. It wasn’t too much damage.”
On the knockout punch: “I was watching his fights and taking into account that he was missing uppercuts from the left and from the right. During my training, I was training on putting combinations around those shots.”
On a rematch clause: “First of all, my future plans don’t depend on me, it’s more a question for my promoter and for Eddie Hearn. So we will see what they decide. At the same time, I want to thank Andrei Ryabinski and Eddie Hearn for everything they do for me.”
On everyone who doubted him: “I don’t have anything to respond to those people. I just want to box more. I want to thank all of the fans who believe in me.”
Whether this was the best punch of his career: “Yes, definitely.”
Dillian Whyte
Speaking to Eddie Hearn: “Can we get the rematch in December? I’m good, I’m good. It’s just one of those things where it just landed didn’t it. I was bossing it. It is what it is. Rematch. It’s cool, it’s all good. That’s what boxing is about. Cheers Eddie.”
Taylor Decisions Persoon Again; Retains Undisputed Lightweight Title
In a rematch of a terrific fight from last June 1st, Katie Taylor made it two in a row over Delfine Persoon to retain the Undisputed Lightweight Title.
In round two, Persoon’s right eye began to swell. It was a grueling fight that saw Taylor win by scores of 98-93 and 96-94 twice.
Interesting enough it was Persoon who landed 107 of 735 punches while Taylor was 95 of 308.
Taylor, 134.3 lbs of Ireland is 16-0. Persoon, 132.7 lbs of Belgium is 44-3.
Katie Taylor
On if she thought she did enough to win: “I think so. I knew it was going to be a tough battle going into this fight. It’s never going to be an easy fight against Delfine. I knew I had to dig deep at some stage during the fight but I thought I boxed a lot better than last time. I still could’ve boxed a bit more.”
On facing a relentless opponent like Delfine Persoon: It’s always going to be tough. You can’t relax at all in there against someone like that. She’s going to come and come and come. Even though I am hitting her with clean shots, she is just on the attack all the time. That’s why it is such a tough fight against someone like Delfine. But congratulations on two fantastic fights. They were an amazing two fights for women’s boxing.”
On if she silenced the critics of the first fight’s decision: “yeah, I think it was a lot more convincing tonight even though it was a tough fight. But as I said, it’s always going to be a tough fight against someone like that and you’re going to have to dig deep and show a lot of heart at some stage during the fight. But I think I did that well, I boxed well.”
On a trilogy: “C’mon, give me a break!”
Delfine Persoon
On accepting the result: “Yes, this time I respect the result. For me this time, the weight was a little too much. I didn’t feel like I had enough power to hurt her this time. I tried to get my weight up but I could not hurt her this time. And if you don’t hurt her, it’s technical and she’s good at moving around. You have to hurt her otherwise she gets away. The power was not enough. I’ve got no problem with this decision and my respect she deserves.
On a trilogy: “In the second round, I think I broke my nose so it was eight rounds boxing with my nose broken. First I must repair my nose and then I think super featherweight is better for me than lightweight. My trainer pushes me to eat, eat, eat but when you train a lot, it’s too much to gain the weight. My respect to her. She deserved to win today.
Chris Kongo remained undefeated with a 9th round stoppage over Luther Clay in a welterweight bout.
Kongo hurt Clay in round five, and then dropped him with a left hook in the 9th. Clay’s corner stopped the bout at 2:44.
Kongo, 145.5 lbs of Bermondsey is now 12-0 with seven knockouts. Clay, 145.8 lbs of Bracknell is 13-2.
“First of all I want to thank god for this victory,” said Kongo afterwards. “It has been 16 months since I last boxed. I’ve waited for the opportunity and here I am. There was no way I was leaving that ring without this belt around my waist. I was willing to die in there, I’m telling you. There was no way I was leaving that ring without the belt.
“100%. I knew I had the speed, I had the power, I just had to go in there and pace myself. Like I said, it has been 16 months since I last got in the ring so it felt kind of new to me. In the first rounds I was trying to feel him out but then when it got into the middle rounds I hurt him. I knew before the fight ended I was going to get him out of there and that’s what I did.
“We’e been working on a lot of things. Power was one of the attributes I have been working closely on. I’ve been working closely with my strength and conditioning coaches Nathan and Tyrone, but also when we’re in the boxing gym it is all boxing based with Jim. I want to defend the belt next. Look what I did there with 16 months out of the ring. Imagine when I’m fighting regularly what I’m going to do to these guys. I have full confidence in myself. I believe that I can be one of the best contenders in the world at Welterweight. I believe that I am the best Welterweight in the division in the UK.”
Alen Babic stopped Shawndell Wintera in round two of a scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout.
In round one, Babic dropped Winters with a left hook to the jaw. In round two, Babic kept up the onslaught by dropping Winters with a right that was follwed by a left hook that sent Winters don in the corner, and the fight was stopped at 2:20.
Babic, 205 lbs of Croatia is now 4-0 with all wins coming early. Winters, 194 lbs is 13-3.
“That was ‘The Savage’, be afraid of him,” said Babic afterwards. “That’s my alter-ego, when I go into that mental state I can do damage. I will fight these giants. Give me the biggest one you have. I knew it in the locker room. I know when I land. Every coach told me I have bombs in my hands. It is natural. This is my approach. One or two rounds. My fights won’t go past three rounds. I am different. I have a guy in mind, he’s from my country. Filip Hrgovic! He was calling me out. I don’t like him. I want to fight him.
“I’m a different breed of fighter. Old school, I don’t care about touching. I go in there and I finish people. I finished him in the second round. Parker took five rounds, I don’t need that. They say I’m small. I’m bigger than Jack Dempsey, and Jack Dempsey was a killer! Nobody can box like me. I had almost 60 knockouts in the amateurs, that’s rare. I go all in. I’m bringing something new. I’m going to go in there and I’m going to get it finished as quickly as I can.
“I just want people to love me. I don’t care about money. I was working as a doorman for nothing, for scraps. I’ve broken my hands thousands of times. Fighting on the big stage means everything to me. Hrgovic insulted me, he really insulted me. I’ll never forget that. That’s a fight I definitely want in the future and I will win.”
Zak Chelli and Jack Cullen fought to a 10-round split draw in a super middleweight fight.
In round four, Chelli had swelling under her left eye.
In round seven. Cullen was cut under the left eye.
Chelli won a card 97-93; Cullen took a card 96-95 and a 3rd judge saw the fight even at 95-95.
Cullen, 164.6 lbs of Little Lever is 18-2-1. Chelli, 164.8 lbs of Fulham is 7-1-1.
“I’m disappointed with two of the judges,” said Chelli afterwards. “The first judge said it was 97-93, that was fair, and that’s how the fight should have gone. I’m very disappointed. It was my first fight after 11 months, so I’m happy with my performance. There was a little bit of ring rust at the start but I dominated the last half of the fight and I believe I won it.
“I’m very disappointed with the draw. I definitely deserved the win. I put all of it into it but we move on. I’m 22, as I always say. Hopefully I’ll get a Title fight in my next fight. I’m not going to lie, with 11 months out of the ring I felt the ring rust at the start, but I worked through it and I ripped him to the body, got him to the head, cut him and made him bleed.
“At least the fans enjoyed the fight, I hope they did. He took the punches, he did well. I rate him for his durability but I still believe I beat him. My dad knows the truth, he knows I won that fight. I’m not going to lose hope. I’m going to keep going and train hard. I look forward to the next fight. Hopefully it won’t be another 11 month wait. There’s a lot more to come from me.”
