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 | | Subject: Alexander Povetkin vs Ruslan Chageav set for Aug 27th Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:13 pm | |
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- Heavyweight contenders Alexander Povetkin and Ruslan Chagaev will meet for a vacant title Aug. 27 in Erfurt, Germany, promoter Sauerland Event announced Tuesday.
That might confuse some boxing fans because champion Wladimir Klitschko won the WBA's title to unify it with his two other sanctioning organization belts July 2, when he scored a near-shutout of David Haye.
However, the WBA, in an effort to keep the sanctioning fees rolling in, often creates a second title -- and sometimes a third -- in a weight class, especially when a fighter unifies belts with another organization, as Klitschko did.
Povetkin (21-0, 15 KOs), who was a mandatory challenger for Klitschko for about two years, ultimately declined to fight him in September, passing up a career-high $2 million-plus payday on the advice of his trainer, Teddy Atlas, who also serves as the ringside analyst for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights."
Klitschko pummeled Chagaev (27-1-1, 17 KOs) into submission for a 10th-round knockout in June 2009.
"I am really looking forward to the fight," said Povetkin, a 2004 Russian Olympic gold medalist.
Povetkin, 31, said he would have liked to fight for a title sooner, but his career was sidetracked by the death of his father last year.
"That's past history now," Kalle Sauerland, Povetkin's promoter, said. "Alexander needed some time to get over the sad news. But now he is ready for a world title fight. He has always been one of the most talented heavyweight contenders out there."
Chagaev, 32, a native of Uzbekistan living in Germany, has won two fights since the one-sided beating he took against Klitschko. He outpointed Kali Meehan in a title eliminator in May 2010 and won an eight-round decision against Travis Walker in November.
"It is going to be an exciting fight (between) two equally talented fighters," said Universum's Klaus-Peter Kohl, Chagaev's promoter. "Both had great amateur careers and won world (amateur) championships. Povetkin even won the Olympic gold medal. Both have a similar physical constitution, but Ruslan has already been world champion as a professional. I am convinced he will accomplish his goal of winning the title again."
Also on the card, rising heavyweight contender Robert Helenius (15-0, 10 KOs), a native of Finland living in Germany, will face former titlist Sergei Liakhovich (25-3, 16 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout.
Helenius, nicknamed the "Nordic Nightmare," made a big statement in his last fight when he knocked out former titleholder Samuel Peter in spectacular fashion in the ninth round in April.
"Robert has a great future ahead," trainer Ulli Wegner said. "He keeps progressing and he certainly has the talent to be world champion. Liakhovich is a very tough opponent and Robert will be perfectly prepared once he steps through the ropes."
Liakhovich, who is from Belarus and lives in Arizona, will end a 15-month layoff when he faces Helenius. He has not fought since stopping Evans Quinn in the ninth round in Germany in May 2010. After that, Liakhovich signed with Main Events and was supposed to fight on a Tomasz Adamek undercard in April but withdrew because of a rib injury.
Helenius-Liakhovich had been scheduled for July 16, but was delayed because Helenius had an inflammation of his right hand. http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/6784061/alexander-povetkin-ruslan-chagaev-meet-heavyweight-belt |
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