How Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin gave Andy Ruiz Jr and Tyson Fury the perfect game plan to KO Anthony Joshua

There are many boxers throughout history who redefined the game and adopted a signature move which became forever associated with them.

Muhammad Ali had the shuffle, Mike Tyson invented the peek-a-boo style and Floyd Mayweather Jr was synonymous with the shoulder roll defence.

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There are perhaps no two heavyweights in the modern era with better left hooks in their respective arsenals than Alexander Povektin and Dillian Whyte, who meet again in a rematch of their August 2020 clash this Saturday.

Whyte infamously ended his rivalry against Derek Chisora with perhaps the most brutal defeat in the veteran’s career, while Povetkin managed to topple David Price in the same year with an equally scything shot.

The left hooks will once again be out in force in Gibraltar on Saturday night undoubtedly, yet both men may have unwittingly outlined a game plan for one of the biggest fights in heavyweight history.

Anthony Joshua was made to look human for the first time in his professional career when on the receiving end of left hooks from both Whyte and Povetkin.

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Tyson Fury has vowed to knock his British rival out inside just three rounds when they finally met, a bout which could finally take place this year.

Before 2019, few would have believed ‘The Gypsy King’ had the power or Joshua was defensively suspect enough to be caught so early.

The warning signs for ‘AJ’ were there from the very beginning; as an amateur at the European Championships in 2011 he was stopped in the third round by Mihai Nistor after a booming left hand.

Having reached that level in just three years, critics were comfortable enough to put the mistake down to inexperience as Joshua redeemed himself in London a year later to win Olympic Gold.

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Yet when the Watford-native resumed his domestic rivalry with Whyte in 2015, he was hurt for the first time in his pro career with a booming left hook in the second round which rocked him to his core.

Having beaten Joshua in the amateur ranks, Whyte felt as though he had his compatriot’s number, yet failed to capitalise and was eventually stopped himself.

Povetkin has few shots available to him which are more dangerous than his left hook, yet he was also able to hurt Joshua when they met.

In 2018, Joshua defended his WBO, WBA and IBF world titles at Wembley by stopping ‘Sasha’ in the seventh-round, but only after being left with a bloodied and broken nose by Povektin thanks to a short, sharp left hook.

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And in his very next fight, it was clear the left hand counter was a shot which the Olympian had a very definite weakness to.

Andy Ruiz Jr was left looking up at the ceiling of Madison Square Garden as a last-minute replacement fighter in New York in June 2019. Determined to not have his dreams dashed, the Mexican-American quickly engaged in a firefight.

With Joshua off balance from his power punches failing to land, ‘The Destroyer’ detonated a left hook to the temple which rendered the champion almost unconscious on the spot and left him devoid of his senses.

The biggest heavyweight upset of the era would soon be mercilessly as Joshua’s attempts to continue in the Big Apple were waved off and it became apparent there was a blueprint to beat him.

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Standing at 6ft 6ins, the 31-year-old normally towers over opponents and likes to utilise his powerful jab and strong backhand to dictate the tempo,.

Yet shorter fighters like Whyte, Povetkin and Ruiz were able to expose his inability to always protect himself with that right hand and found their own left hook counters.

Although Joshua will instead be the smaller man when he fights the 6ft 9ins Fury, the issue of dealing with the left hook remains.

No doubt ‘The Gypsy King’ and trainer SugarHill Steward owe a tremendous amount of thanks to Whyte and Povetkin as they prepare for the unification fight to determine an undisputed heavyweight world champion.