FRANK WARREN is backing Alexander Povetkin to KO opponent Dillian Whyte for a second time.
The Russian hardman defends his WBC interim title shot against the Brit in Gibraltar on Saturday night seven months after their initial scrap.
Povetkin, 41, was floored twice by Whyte in their first bout before KO’ing Whyte with a brutal uppercut in the fifth round.
And promoter Warren believes fans could see a repeat performance during the ‘Rumble on the Rock.’
Although he admitted Povetkin’s battle with Covid in November, which forced their January fight to be postponed, could have an impact on the outcome.
Warren told iFL TV: “I think what’s going to benefit Dillian is the fact that the fight has been pushed back for various reasons.
“I think that does him a favour because going straight back into a rematch, which they were going to do what eight or ten weeks after the event, that wouldn’t have done him any favours.
“That was a bad knockout that he had. It’s really how has COVID affected Povetkin. He caught COVID, didn’t he? How has it affected him, and I’m much older than him, I speak from experience.
“It’s not something that just leaves your system just like that. It’s in you.
“Hopefully, he’s over that now, and if he is over it, I think Dillian is going to have a tough night because he knows he has the power to knock him over, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the same thing happens again.
“He’s going to have to really, really try and get Povetkin in the position where he hopefully runs out of gas, as far as he’s concerned.
“I think Povetkin now has got his measure. That was a big shot that he caught him with, a big, big shot. So what’s he [Whyte] going to do?
“Is he going to trade with him or is he going to stand off him? For me, he’s [Dillian] got to outwork him.
“He’s got to really make every round like it’s the last round, and try and wear him down.
“If he does that, he might get through it, but I do favour Povetkin to do the same thing again.”
Povetkin revealed to Sky Sports his tactics to make it two from two against Whyte which includes punching shorter.
He said: “The left hook I was prepared for, and the right hand. But the uppercut works. You never know which will work in the next fight.
“I will try to defend myself better. My defensive skills must be better. And I will try to punch shorter.
“I will try to fix my mistakes from the previous fight and try not to repeat them.
“He can do whatever he wants. I’m ready for anything. I’ve been through this many times. I will be ready.
“I haven’t watched [the first fight] too many times but I pay attention to the mistakes that I made. I didn’t watch it to celebrate my win. It was for homework.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
