Povetkin vs Boswell Odds: 42-Year-Old American Given Little Chance

This afternoon in Helsinki, 42-year-old American veteran Cedric Boswell will get his first shot at a heavyweight title when he faces 32-year-old former Olympic gold medalist Alexander Povetkin for the WBA title in Helsinki.

Boswell, as expected, is being written off on the sportsbooks, as Povetkin is a strong favorite.

Boswell (35-1, 26 KO) hasn't lost since 2003, but he also has never beaten anyone on the level of the Teddy Atlas-trained Povetkin (22-0, 15 KO).

[ Related: Povetkin vs Boswell Fight Preview ]

Povetkin, meanwhile, picked up the WBA belt in August with a win over Ruslan Chagaev, and that probably wasn't even his best career win. That's still likely his January 2008 defeat of Eddie Chambers. Though Povetkin's career hasn't been what was hoped coming out of the Olympics, he's proven himself a quality fighter, if not a special sort, and the feeling is that this has been booked as a sideways step more than anything.