MOSCOW, October 9 (R-Sport) - Russia’s Alexander Povetkin challenged four-belt world heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko to a rematch Wednesday, saying he a lost a battle but was determined to "win the war."
Klitschko won a unanimous points decision against Povetkin in Moscow early Sunday morning to retain the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO belts, following a one-sided bout in which Povetkin was knocked down four times.
“I’m not frightened and I’m going to set my sights on meeting him again,” Povetkin said. "I lost the battle, but I'll win the war."
He added: “Tactically, Wladimir beat me, but I definitely never gave up mentally or physically. At that moment, he was stronger. I’ll take the correct conclusions from it, especially in terms of tactics.”
After the fight, Klitschko refused to rule out a rematch at some stage, but said it could not happen soon because of the other fights he needed to take to satisfy various sanctioning bodies.
In another development Wednesday, Povetkin’s camp abandoned plans to submit a formal appeal against referee Luis Pabon, who they accused of allowing Klitschko to hold excessively during his fight with Povetkin.
Demanding Pabon be banned “would look wrong now,” said Andrei Ryabinsky, who organized the fight and is affiliated with Povetkin.
Klitschko improved to a 61-3 career record with the win, while the previously unbeaten Povektin dropped to 26-1. Klitschko won the bout 119-104 on all three scorecards, and would have scored a perfect 120 had he not had a point deducted for holding.
