I'm a fan of Alexander Povetkin. He fights hard, he is willing to exchange and he has some solid skills. He's not the hardest puncher but he stays very active. He's not the fastest guy but he swarms you and gets in your face. He's a blue collar fighter, and in his young career he has shown the confidence and willingness to step up and face the biggest challenges after only a tiny amount of fights.

After plowing his way through some fellow "contenders" in the sad state of the 2008 heavyweight division of boxing, Povetkin was lined up for his title shot against Wladimir Klitschko. Klitschko, I am not a fan of. He has shown many traits that are the opposite of what Povetkin shows us. He has all of the physical blessings one could dream of. But instead of going for the kill too often he stands tall behind an easy jab. He sometimes seems scared in the ring, despite being the guy with more KO power and more skill. I don't like seeing that in a professional fighter, neverless a heavyweight that is supposed to be the best heavyweight in the world.

All of that being said, he has a huge size advantage against Povetkin. He has that long reach and when he gets that jab working well, it's not lazy or well intentioned, but rather it's a devastating, piston like weapon. He has power in both hands and big fight experience. Oh, and that size. I think that for Povetkin, the Klitschko fight was going to be just a bit too soon for the promising fighter.

I think the Povetkin injury is a blessing in disguise. The more this guy can train, the better chance he will have. He needs more time in the gym, honing his craft. He needs to learn a little bit more of avoiding punches rather than catching them with his face. He needs to learn how to move in and out a la Joe Frazier rather than straight ahead behind a storm of sloppy punches. That won't work against Klitschko, Povetkin would simply never get in range to do any damage.

So to Povetkin I say cheer up. You'll get your day against Wladimir. And when you do, you'll have more experience and a higher skill level that should help you in the biggest fight of your career.