IBF justifies Alexander Povetkin ranking removal
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) has released a statement justifying the dropping of contender Alexander Povetkin from their official rankings.
Povetkin was removed from the IBF’s list of top-fifteen heavyweights in the world after his team refused an invitation to participate in a tournament to determine a mandatory challenger for champion Wladimir Klitschko’s title.
"We decided to organize a tournament of four fighters, where the winner would become the mandatory challenger for a title fight against current champion Wladimir Klitschko," IBF President Daryl Peoples said.
"And we invited Mr. Povetkin to participate, but he refused. Currently, his trainer Teddy Atlas believes that he is not yet ready to fight for the championship belt."
Peoples got at the heart of the matter. "In my opinion, if you receive a world ranking, it is assumed that you are willing to fight for the world title. And as Povetkin is currently not ready, we have excluded him from the rankings to include those who are
interested in participating in the qualifying tournament."
After Povetkin was dropped from the IBF rankings, he nevertheless managed to secure a fight deal with Wladimir Klitschko on September 11, but bowed out of the fight again on his trainer's advice.
Atlas contended that Povetkin have more experience before going into the ring with the likes of Klitschko, confirming People's recent statements. "Let's look at the achievements of Wladimir [Klitschko]. It took him 37 matches to win the title. Sasha has
only had 19 fights. I want him to gain experience. It's my duty."
Since the statement, Povetkin’s status as a fighter has been thrown in limbo, as he seems fine with drifting in the background of the division until he gains the requisite experience.
Povetkin, an Olympic gold medallist, has had no less than 130 amateur bouts.
The Russian fighter recently acknowledged that given the opportunity anew to compete for his country on the international level he would accept it, because it would allow him to pay homage to his country.
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