Alexander Povetkin (23-0, 16 KOs) made a spectacular first defence of his WBA Heavyweight Title, knocking out Cedric Boswell (35-2, 26 KOs) in the eighth round of their clash in Helsinki, Finland .
Fighting in front of a sell-out crowd of 12,738 fans at a rocking Hartwall Areena, Povetkin looked sharp from the first bell, cleverly picking his opponent apart.
The 2004 Olympic gold medal winner took away Boswell´s jab and landed good combinations throughout. He turned it on in the seventh when he pelted the brave American with powerful shots – only for the bell to save him. In the eighth, Povetkin then finished him off with a series of hard punches that knocked Boswell down and out.
“This was a good win for me,” he stated afterwards. “The preparation with Teddy Atlas had gone very well. I did what I was supposed to do in the ring and I am happy about the result.”
At the post-fight press conference, WBO Cruiserweight Champion Marco “Captain” Huck stormed to the podium to challenge Povetkin. “I have defended my title eight times, I need a new challenge at heavyweight,” Huck said. Povetkin was quick to accept: “Let´s get it on,” he replied.
On the undercard, WBA/WBC/WBO Female Welterweight Champion Cecilia Braekhus (19-0, 5 KOs) defended her title collection with a tenth-round TKO victory over Kuulei Kupihea (7-2, 1 KO).
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
