Alexander Povetkin, Michael Hunter reach “agreement” for Ruiz-Joshua II undercard

By the looks of things, Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II won’t be the only heavyweight show in Diriyah on December 7th. Alexander Povetkin’s manager, Andrey Ryabinsky, tells TASS that “Sasha” has reached an “agreement” with long-rumored foe Michael Hunter to face off on the undercard, and though the contracts are not yet signed, he’s confident that the two are on a collision course.

Despite turning 40 last month, Povetkin (35-2, 24 KO) continues to soldier on. Eleven months after a loss to Anthony Joshua snapped an eight-fight winning streak, he joined the Vasiliy Lomachenko-Luke Campbell card. where he took a decision over Hughie Fury. His only career losses came against Joshua and, back in 2013, Wladimir Klitschko.

If Povetkin’s holding steady, Hunter (18-1, 12 KO) is rocketing up. A former member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic squad, the first of its kind to go home-empty handed, Hunter’s cruiserweight run stalled out at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk. In response, he reinvented himself as a heavyweight, where he’s won six straight with notable victories over Martin Bakole and, most recently, Sergey Kuzmin. Despite being the smaller man, he’ll actually have a fair bit of reach on Povetkin.

Genuine crossroads fights are usually fun. Quality matchup that should put the winner in title contention.