Alexander Povetkin lost for the first time in his career, but like so many others he lost to a Klitschko and that can't really be held against him. The loss was extremely lopsided—119-105 on all three scorecards—but the actual fight was "closer" than most Klitschko shutouts as Povetkin actually made Wladimir work for every round he got.
So where does Povetkin rank now among the challengers? Clearly the Klitschko brothers are #1 and #2. We had Povetkin #3 before the fight, and his lead over #4 Kubrat Pulev was so big that even after the loss he retains his #3 ranking.
But if we want to use our human ingenuity rather than a cold, calculating computer algorithm, should Povetkin drop for his loss? We can compare Povetkin's résumé to the others in the top 10 and get an answer.
The first thing to note is that of the 8 non-Klitschkos in the top ten, 3 are undefeated and all of the other five have lost to a Klitschko. Of those five, we can assume that Chris Arreola and Ruslan Chagaev are not candidates for the #3 position since they have other losses to fighters in the top ten. So we will only compare Povetkin to Kubrat Pulev, Tyson Fury, Robert Helenius, Tomasz Adamek, and David Haye. We're not comparing styles or deciding who would beat who, but thinking about who has accomplished more and deserves to be ranked higher at this moment.
Sportsratings Heavyweight top 10 through October 5, 2013
| -3 Yr |
-1 Yr |
-6 mo |
Oct 1 Rank |
Oct 6 Rank |
Fighter |
Rating
|
Rated Record | October results |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | WLAD KLITSCHKO | 76.78 | 39-3-0 | UD 12 #3 ALEX POVETKIN |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | VITALI KLITSCHKO | 47.75 | 27-2-0 | last win -13 months. |
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ALEX POVETKIN | 28.30 | 20-1-0 | L UD 12 #1 WLAD KLITSCHKO |
| 22 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 4 | KUBRAT PULEV | 27.36 | 12-0-0 | |
| 70 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | TYSON FURY | 24.72 | 11-0-0 | |
| 16 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | ROBERT HELENIUS | 24.55 | 11-0-0 | |
| 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | TOMASZ ADAMEK | 22.08 | 10-1-0 | |
| 4 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | RUSLAN CHAGAEV | 18.63 | 16-2-0 | UD 12 #111 JOVO PUDAR |
| 17 | 8 | 26 | 9 | 9 | CHRIS ARREOLA | 18.01 | 20-3-0 | |
| 5 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 10 | DAVID HAYE | 17.73 | 6-1-0 | last win -15 months. |
In each case we will review their relevant record against only boxers who have been active in the last five years, using the opponents' current ranking in our system.
Alexander Povetkin (26-1-0)
01/2008: Win by UD over #108 EDDIE CHAMBERS
04/2009: Win by UD over #169 JASON ESTRADA
03/2010: Win by TKO over #270 JAVIER MORA
12/2010: Win by UD over #216 NICOLAI FIRTHA
08/2011: Win by UD over #8 RUSLAN CHAGAEV
12/2011: Win by KO over #114 CEDRIC BOSWELL
09/2012: Win by TKO over #164 HASIM RAHMAN
05/2013: Win by TKO over #59 ANDRZEJ WAWRZYK
Top win: #8 Ruslan Chagaev
Top 100 wins: 2
Top 400 wins: 8
Kubrat Pulev (18-0-0)
11/2009: Win by UD over #267 GBENGA OLOUKUN
01/2010: Win by KO over #217 MATT SKELTON
10/2010: Win by UD over #254 DOMINICK GUINN
02/2011: Win by UD over #225 YAROSLAV ZAVOROTN
05/2011: Win by TKO over #235 DERRIC ROSSY
10/2011: Win by UD over #259 TRAVIS WALKER
01/2012: Win by TKO over #140 MICHAEL SPROTT
05/2012: Win by KO over #75 ALEX DIMITRENKO
09/2012: Win by KO over #76 ALEXANDER USTINOV
08/2013: Win by UD over #20 TONY THOMPSON
Top win: #20 Tony Thompson
Top 100 wins: 3
Top 300 wins: 10
Tyson Fury (21-0-0)
04/2009: Win by KO over #279 MATTHEW ELLIS
09/2009: Win by W over #138 JOHN MCDERMOTT
06/2010: Win by TKO over #138 JOHN MCDERMOTT
02/2011: Win by KO over #248 MARCELO NASCIMENT
07/2011: Win by UD over #18 DERECK CHISORA
09/2011: Win by TKO over #216 NICOLAI FIRTHA
11/2011: Win by TKO over #104 NEVEN PAJKIC
04/2012: Win by TKO over #207 MARTIN ROGAN
07/2012: Win by TKO over #58 VINNY MADDALONE
12/2012: Win by UD over #39 KEVIN JOHNSON
04/2013: Win by KO over #162 STEVE CUNNINGHAM
Top win: #18 Dereck Chisora
Top 100 wins: 3
Top 300 wins: 11
Robert Helenius (19-0-0)
01/2010: Win by TKO over #251 LAMON BREWSTER
03/2010: Win by UD over #267 GBENGA OLOUKUN
08/2010: Win by TKO over #113 GREGORY TONY
04/2011: Win by KO over #154 SAMUEL PETER
08/2011: Win by TKO over #245 SERGEI LYAKHOVICH
12/2011: Win by SD over #18 DERECK CHISORA
11/2012: Win by UD over #229 SHERMAN WILLIAMS
03/2013: Win by UD over #140 MICHAEL SPROTT
Top win: #18 Dereck Chisora
Top 100 wins: 1
Top 300 wins: 8
Tomasz Adamek (49-2-0)
02/2010: Win by UD over #169 JASON ESTRADA
04/2010: Win by MD over #9 CHRIS ARREOLA
08/2010: Win by UD over #135 MICHAEL GRANT
12/2010: Win by TKO over #58 VINNY MADDALONE
06/2012: Win by UD over #108 EDDIE CHAMBERS
09/2012: Win by TKO over #259 TRAVIS WALKER
12/2012: Win by SD over #162 STEVE CUNNINGHAM
Top win: #9 Chris Arreola
Top 100 wins: 2
Top 300 wins: 7
David Haye (26-2-0)
11/2008: Win by KO over #87 MONTE BARRETT
11/2009: Win by MD over #182 NICOLAY VALUEV
11/2010: Win by TKO over #174 AUDLEY HARRISON
07/2012: Win by TKO over #18 DERECK CHISORA
Top win: #18 Dereck Chisora
Top 100 wins: 2
Top 300 wins: 4
Conclusions
It's hard to differentiate between these fighters! The ones who haven't lost yet to a Klitschko probably would, so we can't count that as a major factor in ranking. When looking at the top victory for each fighter Povetkin and Adamek have an edge, having beaten top ten fighters Ruslan Chagaev and Chris Arreola respectively. Three others (Fury, Helenius, and Haye) all count Dereck Chisora as their top accomplishment, and Kubrat Pulev beat Tony Thompson which has to be about as respected.
Pulev and Fury have the most top 100 wins with 3 each, while Helenius lags with just one—and many people think he lost that fight. So dock Helenius a point for that.
And for total wins at heavyweight over relevant competition, Fury leads with 11, Pulev is 2nd with 10, Povetkin and Helenius have 8 each, Adamek 7, and Haye just 4.
Added up, it depends on how much extra credit you give Povetkin and Adamek for their top ten wins. If it's a lot, they should be #3 and #4. If it isn't much, then Fury and Pulev might deserve to be #3 and #4. No matter what, Helenius' lack of top 100 wins keeps him at #7, and Haye's lack of fights period should put him last on the list.
Things could change when Haye battles Fury in February—assuming that fight happens this time. Adamek is fighting #11 Vyacheslav Glazkov on November 16. And with Povetkin's loss, we assume that maybe he'll be mixing it up with some of the others on the list, now that he doesn't have to protect his unbeaten record to keep a Klitschko fight on the horizon? We can only hope that instead of comparing these fighters on paper we might be able to make more head-to-head comparisons.