Tomorrow night in Erfurt Germany, off American TV, undefeated 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist Alexander Povetkin and Former Heavyweight Champion Chris Byrd will do battle in an IBF eliminator match tomorrow.
Povetkin, who won the gold medal in the super heavyweight division in 2004, is a young up and comer who had an excellent amateur career, and although he is undefeated as professional, he is still relatively unproven with just 13 professional fights. His best win as a professional is a unanimous decision over Larry Donald in his last fight.
Byrd is viewed as an aging former champion who fights in a weight classes controlled by fighters who outweigh the smaller heavyweight. Even though Byrd has probably seen better days, he's the more established as well as experienced fighter going into this bout. Byrd has wins over Vitali Klitschko, David Tua, and Evander Holyfield. He's also a pretty big underdog for tomorrow night's fight against Povetkin. This is certainly your run of the mill crossroads fight between a young contender coming up and former champion on his way down as he tries to land one more title shot.
Many respectable fans and experts are picking Povetkin to knock Byrd out. I've been wrong with my picks before, and it will not the last time I am ever wrong, but in this case I am picking Byrd. I think his experience and elusiveness (although not nearly as apparent as it was five years ago) will get him across the finish line first against a Povetkin who is still somewhat raw.
Byrd by decision. Unanimous? Majority? Split? I don't know. Take your pick.
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