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When asked after his two round defeat of a hapless Hasim Rahman if he would be looking for a fight with Wladimir Klitschko, Alexander Povetkin told Epix's Chris Mannix that he'd be open to the matchup, more or less.
Few watching really bought it or felt there was sincerity there. And one of those people not buying it is Wladimir himself, who texted Mannix after the interview:
In a text message, Wladimir Klitschko says he doubts Povetkin wants a fight. "Right," Klitschko said. "Where was he before? Please."
Klitschko has plenty of reason to be skeptical, as Povetkin signed to fight him in 2008 and 2009 and bailed both times. As you can see in the photo above, the last time they were supposed to meet, Povetkin didn't show up for the press conference, prompting Wladimir to draw a black eye on a cardboard cutout and take photos with it, because sometimes, Wladimir Klitschko is very, very funny.
Mannix also says that Hasim Rahman claims he was in a hospital last night, suffering from dehydration. He also says that Rahman was "weird all week," which we saw part of in his media workout interview. There was just plain nothing respectable about this event today.