Alexander Povetkin (27-1, 19 KO’s) administered a beating to a badly over-matched Manuel Charr (26-2, 15 KO’s) on Friday night in winning by a 7th round knockout at the Luzhniki, in Moscow, Russia. Povetkin hit Charr with a left uppercut that split his guard in the 7th.
Povetkin then followed up with a three punch combination that knocked Charr down flat. The last punch of the combination was a right hand that knocked Charr’s head sideways from the impact. Charr was already falling at the time and completely defenseless and badly hurt, but Povetkin looked like he didn’t want to take any chances that Charr might get back up.
Povetkin really had his way in this fight with his good footwork and combinations on the inside. He did a good job of planting himself in close to Charr and working him over with body and head shots.
Charr didn’t have much of a chance to let his hands go because Povetkin was constantly working himself in position to fire on him with hooks. Povetkin would turn slightly to the side in order to get as much as power as possible on his shots each time he’d throw. Charr looked confused from the 1st round when Povetkin started blasting him with shots.
Charr landed a right hand to the head after the bell sounded to end the 1st. Povetkin had dropped his guard, so Charr unloaded on him with a free shot. At the end of the 2nd, Charr did the same thing in hitting Povetkin after the round had ended.
In the 5th and 6th rounds, Charr looked tired and beaten from the nonstop shots from Povetkin. Charr was still throwing an occasional punch, but he wasn’t being busy enough to keep Povetkin off of him.
Charr landed some nice jabs in rounds 4-6, but Povetkin responded by crowding him and landing big punches in close. Charr didn’t have the inside game to compete with Povetkin when he would crowd him, so he mostly held and occasionally would jam a forearm into the face of Povetkin and push him into punching range.
This defeat is a tough one for Charr to take because he was in position to get a title shot with the WBC with his #7 ranking. But now he’s going to need to rebuild quickly if he wants to try and get a title shot in the future.
