ABOUT
On 15 December 2017 in Ekaterinburg, Russian boxer and WBO International and WBA Intercontinental heavyweight titleholder Alexander Povetkin (32-1, 23 KOs) successfully defended his titles by defeating Romanian-born German boxer Christian Hammer (22-4, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision of the judges with scores of 120-107, 120-108 and 119-108. Povetkin was faster than his opponent and dictated the pace of the fight. Hammer was very inactive, especially in the first half of the fight, going through rounds in blind defence or going straight into a clinch.
Hammer became more active in the second half of the fight and made several successful attacks, which had no effect on the course of the bout. Alexander picked up the pace in the final rounds but was unable to convert his advantage into a knockdown or knockout. This victory earned Alexander Povetkin the status of mandatory challenger for the WBA Super heavyweight title, now held by Britain's Anthony Joshua.
