Ruslan Chagaev: record, next fight and profile →
Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin, 21-0 and # 2 with the WBA, is ready to fight again after his hand injury but is kept waiting. He is waiting for a world title shot. Now, anyone who looks around the heavyweight scene knows that there is no title when the champions, Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye are already involved in other fights.
The situation around the WBA heavyweight championship remains uncertain as the next opponent of the reigning beltholder David Haye (25-1, 23 KOs) is still to be announced. Ruslan Chagaev (27-1-1, 17 KOs), who won the WBA eliminator over Australian Kali Meehan last year, is listed as the World Boxing Association's mandatory challenger, while rumors have it that undefeated Russian power hitter Alexander Povetkin (21-0, 15 KOs), ranked #2 by the WBA, can get the inside track to the champion. BoxingScene.com/Allboxing.ru contacted Chagaev to know more about his current feelings and thoughts in this exclusive conversation.
The heavyweight triangle between David Haye, Ruslan Chagaev and Alexander Povetkin was explained by Frank Bleydorn, a representative of Sauerland Event. Sauerland is the co-promoter of Haye and the sole promoter of Povetkin. Bleydorn issued a statement that Chagaev is still the mandatory challenger to Haye's WBA crown. Chagaev's participation in the fight has fallen under question due to his exposure to Hepatitis B. The British Board of Control is likely not going to approve him to fight in the UK.
With a new year slowly coming into its own, isn’t it a nice time to start something totally new? The Eastern European squad of BoxingScene.com, feeling that this year is going to be another breakthrough for fighters from the former USSR, begins a new series of articles, dedicated to post-Soviet boxing and its best representatives. We shall cover both its exterior and interior going deep to famed champions of the past and giving a detailed look at what is going on right now.