Alexander Povetkin

On 6 July 2011 negotiations for Povetkin to fight former WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev (27-1-1, 17 KOs) for the vacant title began between Sauerland, who promote Povetkin, and Chagaev's promoter Universum.

Two days later, Povetkin's trainer confirmed the fight would take place on 27 August.

At the time of the bout, Povetkin was ranked No.3 heavyweight contender by The Ring, while Chagaev was ranked No.4 contender by the same publication.

There were concerns about Chagaev's health state, due to him being diagnosed with hepatitis B and the possibility of him infecting Povetkin.

Chagaev, however, insisted that the medical examination had confirmed that his opponents (Povetkin included) weren't in danger of being infected.

Most observers expected the fight to be close, giving Povetkin the edge in youth and athletic ability, while also giving Chagaev an advantage in terms of experience.

Both fighters were given an even chance to win.

Former WBA world champion Nikolai Valuev predicted Povetkin to win by decision or knockout in the championship rounds.

The card was televised by Das Erste.

With Teddy Atlas in his corner, Povetkin bested Chagaev by unanimous decision to capture the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title.

Both fighters were active from the opening bell, with Povetkin appearing to have the upper hand in the first half of the fight, frequently closing the distance and working Chagaev's body, while blocking most Chagaev's shots with arms and gloves.

Povetkin staggered Chagaev with an uppercut in the third round.

Chagaev regained composure in the middle rounds, hurting tired Povetkin several times with clubbing left hooks.

Povetkin withstood Chagaev's attacks and re-established his pressure going into the championship rounds, while Chagaev appeared to be saving energy for the last rounds.

The twelfth round saw both fighters trading shots.

The bout went full twelve rounds, with Povetkin being declared the winner by unanimous decision.

The scores were 116–112 (twice) and 117–113, all in favor of Povetkin.

Alexander Vladimirovich "Sasha" Povetkin (Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Пове́ткин; born 2 September 1979) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2021.

After a successful amateur kickboxing career that included winning World Junior championship in 1997, World title in 1999 and a European professional kickboxing title in 2000, Povetkin won his first major boxing tournament at the Russian Championships in 2000 at the age of 21.

This would be the beginning of several major amateur tournaments Povetkin would go on to win including; the Good Will Games in Brisbane, Australia in 2001; the 34th European Championship in 2002; the XII World Championship in 2003 held in Thailand; and the 35th European Championship in 2004.

As an amateur, Povetkin won gold medals in the super-heavyweight division at the 2002 and 2004 European Championships, 2003 World Championships, and 2004 Olympics.

His amateur success would culminate in winning the gold medal at super-heavyweight (>91 kg) boxing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, in a walkover match over Egyptian Mohamed Aly.

After taking Olympic Gold, he concluded his amateur career with a record of 125–7, with all losses avenged.

Povetkin's early career was without renown.

After turning professional in 2005, he defeated Ruslan Chagaev to claim the inaugural WBA (Regular) title in 2011.

He was rated in the top ten annual heavyweights by BoxRec from 2006 to 2020, and rated in the top five annual heavyweights from 2007 to 2020, except for 2019.

He first pulled notice when, after compiling a perfect record of 12–0, he defeated veteran Larry Donald on 30 June 2007 by unanimous decision in Moscow in his 13th professional fight.

The win over Donald was considered solid, and Povetkin continued his emergence as a promising heavyweight boxing contender.

On 27 October 2007 Povetkin met Chris Byrd, who had lost his title to Klitschko the year before.

On 26 January 2008, after initial problems Povetkin defeated Chambers by unanimous decision to become the mandatory challenger for Klitschko.

On 19 July 2008, Povetkin knocked out Taurus Sykes in the fourth round.

After Wladimir Klitschko unified his WBO and IBF titles with David Haye's WBA title, Klitschko was upgraded to "Super Champion" by the WBA, thus making the "Regular Champion" title vacant.

He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Regular version) heavyweight title from 2011 to 2013; the World Boxing Council (WBC) (Interim version) heavyweight title from 2020 to 2021; and challenged twice for the unified heavyweight championship in 2013 and 2018.

Povetkin won by way of an 11th-round TKO victory.

Byrd put up more resistance than Donald, but ultimately was overwhelmed, and his corner threw in the towel.

Less than a week later, Eddie Chambers won a split decision victory over former title challenger Calvin Brock.

This advanced Povetkin and Chambers to the final round of the tournament.

After performing five consecutive defenses, he challenged Klitschko for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring titles in 2013, suffering his first professional career loss by unanimous decision.

In 2018, Povetkin would challenge again for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles, this time against Joshua, and suffered a seventh-round technical knockout loss.

He is a one-time winner of the WBC KO of the Year (2020) and Premier Boxing Champions Knockout of the Year (2020).