By Igor Lazorin, tass
Former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson is currently on a tour of Eastern Europe.
The Hall of Famer stated that he would love to see Olympic gold medal winner and former champion Alexander Povetkin challenge the World Boxing Council (WBC) beltholder, Deontay Wilder.
Wilder and Povetkin were scheduled to fight in May of 2016 in Moscow, but the contest was called off after the Russian fighter tested positive for a banned substance in a pre-fight drug test.
Povetkin has since cleaned up his act, and is getting tested on a regular basis in connection with the testing programs regulated by the WBC and WBA.
Povetkin recently returned to the WBC rankings, in the fourth position.
Wilder is scheduled to make a defense of his belt on Saturday night against Luis Ortiz at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Tyson views Wilder as the most vulnerable champion for Povetkin to beat. Anthony Joshua holds the IBF, IBO, WBA titles and Joseph Parker is the WBO champion - and the two of them will unify on March 31.
It should be noted that Tyson and Wilder recently exchanged words in the press - because Wilder stated in several interviews that he would destroy a 1986 version of Tyson.
"Everybody has the opportunity to [become a world champion] now, because right now there are enough open slots to get that win. I think right now it makes sense for [Povetkin] to box against Wilder, because he is the weakest [of the champions]... at least from the current champions [Wilder] would be [a fight where Povetkin would] be the most successful," said Tyson.
Povetkin will return on the undercard of Joshua-Parker in Cardiff, when he faces Olympic bronze medal winner David Price. The Russian veteran has a record of 33 victories (23 by KO) and one defeat.
At the moment Povetkin is the mandatory challenger to Joshua's WBA title, but it does not appear that they are going to fight next. Joshua's promoter, Eddie Hearn, would like his boxer to make his United States debut in the summer.
2023-10-20 12:54:05
