The boxing card going down Friday in Moscow, Russia is getting a lot of attention at the sport books. The card is set to air on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com and the main event features #1 ranked Cruiserweight Grigory Drozd defending his WBC World Cruiserweight title against Lukasz Janik of Poland. Drozd, who is (39-1), is a massive hometown favorite paying (-3050), with the comeback on Janik at (+1400). There is no over/under out for this fight yet, but Janik (28-2) is the fifth ranked Cruiserweight in Poland and he is not in the top 50 world-wide, so this is a tune-up type of fight, as the line indicates. The Heavyweight 12-round bout between Alexander Povetkin and Mike Perez is of big importance as the winner will be designated a mandatory challenger to the WBC World Heavyweight title held by Deontay Wilder. Mike Perez (21-1-1) of Cuba is coming in as the underdog at (+425), and Alexander Povetkin is paying back at (-550). The over/under is set at 8½, with the over paying (-300) and the under at (+220). Povetkin lost the WBA World Heavyweight title he held since August of 2011 back in October of 2013 when he lost to Wladimir Klitschko, who added that belt to his collection. The WBC belt now held by Wilder is the lone title belt not in Klitschko’s hands at this point, so it appears a good strategy to avoid Klitschko and target Wilder. Povetkin has won two in a row since the Klitschko loss, knocking out both Carlos Takam and Manuel Charr. Perez is trying to bounce back from a tough 2014 that saw him go (0-1-1) against an increased level of competition. He drew with Takam and lost to Jennings, but he notched a win in February against journeyman Darnell Wilson. Well, skill-wise Povetkin probably rates above Takam and Jennings, not to mention Darnell Wilson. Another Cruiserweight 12 round bout sees Junior Anthony Wright (13-0-1) a big underdog (+1200) to veteran Rakhim Chakhkiev (22-1) who is paying back at (-2250). There is no over/under set for this one. Chakhkiev’s lone loss comes at the hands of Krysztof Wlodarczyk for the WBC belt. Wlodarczyk went on to lose the belt to Gregory Drozd, and Chakhkiev is trying to stay in the title picture. This fight is for the minor IBO World Cruiserweight title. Wright is a solid boxer with good power, and he has a nice amateur background, but this is a big step up in competition for him and this is his first fight outside of the mid-west area as a professional. The rest of the seven-fight card has several noteworthy matches that could wind up getting lines added at the books. The interim WBA World Female Super Lightweight belt will be on the line when Svetlana Kulakova and Marie Riederer meet. A pair of Klitschko victims meet in a meaningful Heavyweight fight between Alex Leapai (30-6-3) and Manuel Charr (27-3). Both men have added losses to their records against other opponents after meeting Klitschko, and both are in need of a win. For Leapai, a win may mean a future match-up with Povetkin.
