By Ruslan Chikov

A new champion was crown on Saturday night in Erfurt, Germany, when Alexander Povetkin (22-0, 15KOs) won a unanimous twelve round decision over Ruslan Chagaev to claim the WBA's vacant "regular" heavyweight title. Wladimir Klitschko is the WBA's "super champion" at heavyweight, and he also holds the IBO/IBF/WBO titles. With the victory Povetkin becomes the WBA's mandatory challenger to Klitschko, but the Russian boxer's trainer, Teddy Atlas, brushed off any and all questions regarding a Klitschko-Povetkin clash in the near future.

Povetkin had been Klitschko's mandatory in the past, twice, and both times the Russian fighter withdrew. Povetkin suffered an injury the first time, but last year Atlas pulled him from a scheduled fight with Klitschko and told reporters that "Povetkin wasn't ready for this kind of fight." 

"I don't want to think about Klitschko," said Atlas. "I want to think about Povetkin and this title ... we'll think about Klitschko some other time."

Povetkin had some struggles in the fight but pulled through and dedicated the win to his father who recently passed away.

"My father always hoped and wanted for me to be a world champion," Povetkin said. "It was a very hard fight. It was very hard to fight him. I have a lot of respect for him. He's a very difficult and patient boxer."