Alexander Povetkin

Alexander was born in the city of Kursk, in the family of Irina and Vladimir Povetkin. Since our hero's father was a well-deserved trainer, the guy was fond of martial arts from the earliest years. Before boxing, he had studied karate, hand-to-hand combat and even Chinese martial arts - wushu. From the age of 13, he went to the Spartak hall, where his own dad took care of him.At the age of 16, Povetkin successfully fought back at the Russian Championship, and later won first places at many other competitions. In 2000, he had to survive the first serious injury, because of which the young man could not go to the Olympic Games. However, by the next season, Alexander had behind him a prize-winning place at the World Championships, "gold" in Europe and a victory at All-Russian competitions, which gave him a ticket to the Olympics in Athens. Having won the first place there, the "Russian Knight" became the first of the domestic heavyweights who were lucky enough to bring home an Olympic medal.

Boxing debut and first titles

A year after the Olympics, Alexander turned professional. He spent the lion's share of fights in Germany, only occasionally performing at home. In the 14th bout, the promising heavyweight clashed with Chris Bird, for the title of contender for the IBF title - the American was in a technical knockout in the second minute of the 11th round. Povetkin won his first belt in a confrontation with Eddie Chambers, after which, in 2011, he added the WBA champion status to this list.With a record of 26-0, he was stopped by Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, but in the next fight, the native of Kursk took the WBC title, and after that the WBO and WBA. Only in 2018, Alexander was deprived of these awards, and Anthony Joshua became the triumphant one who did it. However, this did not prevent Povetkin from rehabilitating himself in fights with Huey Fury and Dillian White, which allowed him to recover the status of WBA and WBC champion.At the end of January 2008, Alexander came together in the ring with Eddie Chambers, going on a perfect 30-0 winning streak. The opponent was much more experienced than his young counterpart, but this did not prevent the Russian from giving him a serious fight. Throughout the first half of the meeting, Eddie skillfully defended himself, taking blows into the block, or even dodging them altogether, but Povetkin "ate" almost everything that flew in his direction.

However, the further the duel went, the easier it was for our athlete to work out the champion combinations. As a result, due to the large number of active actions, the judges gave the victory to a fighter from Russia, thereby interrupting the unsurpassed victorious march of the American.In 2018, Alexander shared the ring with the British champion Anthony Joshua. There were belts in 4 versions at stake, and the winner got everything at once. The beginning of the meeting was dictated by the "Knight", who hit well, not giving Joshua space to work. However, gradually Anthony realized how to box with his opponent and gradually took control of the fight. In the 7th round, having delivered several powerful blows, the Briton sent Povetkin into a knockdown, and then finished him off, inflicting the first early defeat in his career.In the summer of 2020, the interim WBC champion, Dillian White, met in the ring with Povetkin, who recently returned after a defeat in a fight with Joshua. Most of the meeting was held under the "tune" of White, who twice poisoned the Russian on the flooring. But in the 5th round, Alexander managed to pull himself together and, hitting a tight uppercut, sent his counterpart into a knockout, proving to everyone that it was still very early to write him off. This is not their last fight, as the managers of the fighters have already agreed on a rematch.On March 27, 2021, a rematch between Povetkin and White took place in Gibraltar. After the severe coronavirus, the Russian was considered an outsider of the fight, which was confirmed by the fight itself. Povetkin began to miss a lot from the very first round. White dominated the melee, skillfully attacked with a jab, not allowing Povetkin to shorten the distance. It all ended for the Russian already in the fourth round: White held a series of powerful punches, clipped with his right side, then caught up with a long straight after the jab. Alexander was led, the Briton took advantage of the moment and struck two more blows, knocking Povetkin off his feet. The corner of the Russian threw in the towel, and the referee recorded the victory of Dillian White by technical knockout.

Shortly after this fight , Alexander Povetkin announced his retirement from professional career

Personal life

Married for the second time. He has a daughter Arina from his first marriage. In July 2013, the wedding with Evgenia Merkulova took place. The wedding ceremony took place in the Czech Republic. 5 years before that, Evgenia won the title of "Miss Audience Sympathy" at the contest "Miss Kursk - 2008". Has two higher educations. Evgenia's father is the Honored Master of Sports in judo Yuri Merkulov.

Alexander Povetkin's younger brother Vladimir also performed in the professional ring. In 2007-2008, he had six successful fights in the light heavyweight division.

Alexander Povetkin has never smoked , is an absolute teetotaler and leads a healthy lifestyle.

Russian Russian Knight" Alexander Povetkin replied at a meeting with young people in Nevinnomyssk, organized by the Orthodox sports club "Peresvet" in 2014, to the question of where the nickname "Russian Knight" came from : "I am Russian, and the Knight - because I trained in a club near Moscow "Vityaz"".

Since 2004, Alexander has positioned himself as a rodnover , has a tattoo on his left arm in the form of the Slavic symbol Svarog Star , wears a Slavic pagan amulet "axe of Perun", as well as clothes with the sign of kolovrat - a symbol of Slavs-neo-pagans and Russian nationalists .

Povetkin called the Soviet and Russian boxer Alexander Lebzyak his idol in boxing .