Alexander Povetkin vs Ruslan Chagaev

Alexander Povetkin won the vacant WBA “regular” heavyweight championship with a unanimous 12-round decision over former titleholder Ruslan Chagaev at the Messehalle in Erfurt, Germany, on 27 August 2011. Povetkin entered unbeaten at 21-0, while Chagaev stood at 27-1-1, his only previous professional defeat having come against Wladimir Klitschko. The title had become available after the WBA elevated Klitschko to its “super champion” designation. Povetkin and Chagaev were both around 231 pounds at the weigh-in, and approximately 4,500 spectators attended, among them former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. The judges returned scores of 117-113, 117-113 and 116-112 for Povetkin.

Povetkin made the stronger beginning. Working from the orthodox stance against Chagaev’s southpaw guard, he was quicker with his hands and more willing to put punches together. Rather than waiting for one heavy opening, he worked in combinations, mixed straight punches with hooks and occasionally brought the uppercut through the centre. Chagaev maintained a compact guard and looked to counter with his left hand, but in the opening stages, Povetkin’s activity and variety gave him the clearer work. Ringside accounts had the Russian taking most of the early rounds, although he was already breathing through his mouth and expending considerable energy to maintain the pace.

The fight began to change in the fifth. Chagaev had spent the early rounds absorbing and studying Povetkin’s attacks, but he now began committing more heavily to his straight and overhand left. Povetkin was still throwing more punches, yet Chagaev’s individual blows carried the greater authority. In the sixth, the former champion produced his best work of the contest. He drove several hard left hands into Povetkin, backing him towards the ropes and visibly disturbing his rhythm. Povetkin was forced to fire back while retreating and appeared tired as Chagaev continued pressing. Contemporary reports described Povetkin as being rocked during this spell, although he did not go down.

Chagaev remained the stronger man through much of the seventh and eighth. Povetkin’s work rate fell, and he spent longer periods circling or waiting, while Chagaev advanced behind the threat of the left hand. The Uzbek was not exceptionally busy himself, but he was now dictating more of the exchanges and looking increasingly confident. One ringside scorer had Chagaev ahead 67-66 after seven rounds and 77-75 after eight. Chagaev repeatedly searched for the large overhand left which had caused Povetkin trouble earlier, while Povetkin tried to answer with shorter combinations and uppercuts. The middle portion of the contest had become the first serious test of Povetkin’s unbeaten professional career.

Trainer Teddy Atlas attempted to revive Povetkin between rounds with an urgent appeal to his fighter’s conditioning and ambition. Povetkin responded in the ninth by returning to the quicker combinations which had worked early. He began stepping inside Chagaev’s guard rather than remaining at the end of the southpaw left and scored with straight punches and uppercuts. The tenth followed the same pattern. Povetkin increased his output, put together combinations to head and body and forced Chagaev backwards for longer periods. Chagaev still tried to rough him up at close range and remained dangerous with the left, but he was no longer controlling the contest as he had from the fifth through the eighth.

The final two rounds were fought with both men aware that the decision was still important. Chagaev landed a strong left uppercut in the eleventh, but Povetkin answered with uppercuts of his own and remained the busier man. His punches no longer had the freshness of the opening rounds, yet he continued to work in combinations and was consistently first to start the exchanges. In the twelfth, Chagaev spent too much time waiting for a single heavy left while Povetkin kept scoring with shorter, more frequent bursts. Chagaev landed one clean left near the bell, but it was not enough to undo Povetkin’s stronger finish. One ringside card made the contest 115-113 for Povetkin, while Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reportedly reached the same total. There were no knockdowns.

The official scoring was wider. All three judges awarded the fight to Povetkin, two by 117-113 and the third by 116-112. Chagaev accepted afterwards that Povetkin had been the better man, while Povetkin described the fight as very difficult and dedicated the victory to his father, who had died the previous year. Atlas said afterwards that his concern during the difficult middle rounds had been persuading Povetkin that the fatigue would pass and that the championship remained within reach. The comeback from the sixth through eighth rounds was therefore central to the victory: Povetkin did not simply establish an early lead and protect it, but had to regain control after Chagaev had threatened to take the contest away from him.

Povetkin improved to 22-0 and became a professional heavyweight titleholder seven years after winning Olympic super-heavyweight gold in Athens. Chagaev fell to 27-2-1, having previously held the WBA heavyweight championship and defeated Nikolai Valuev during his earlier reign. The fight did not establish an undisputed heavyweight champion, since Wladimir Klitschko remained the dominant titleholder and possessed the WBA’s higher “super” designation as well as the IBF and WBO championships. It did, however, provide Povetkin with the most important professional victory of his career to that point. He had been forced to withstand Chagaev’s strongest period, alter the pattern of the fight and finish with enough authority to leave the judges in agreement.

I thought this fight showed both the strengths and the limitations of Alexander Povetkin at that stage. Early on, he looked sharp, busy and technically sound, putting combinations together while Ruslan Chagaev waited too long. But once Chagaev started landing that southpaw left in the middle rounds, Povetkin suddenly looked uncomfortable and tired. He was genuinely shaken in that spell.

What I liked was the way Povetkin recovered. He didn’t fall apart. Teddy Atlas got into him between rounds, and from the ninth Povetkin went back to work, stepped inside Chagaev’s guard and started putting the combinations together again. Chagaev became too reliant on landing one big left, while Povetkin kept nicking the rounds with activity.

The scores of 117-113 twice and 116-112 were fair for me. Chagaev had a very good middle spell, but Povetkin won the beginning and, more importantly, the finish.

It wasn’t a dominant championship performance, but it was an important one. Povetkin had to dig in when things turned against him, and that tells you more about a fighter than looking brilliant when everything is going your way.