By Sean McDaniel: Former WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (27-1-1, 17 KO’s) will have the opportunity to reclaim his lost World Boxing Association title on August 27th against unbeaten Alexander Povetkin 21-0, 15 KO’s) for the vacant WBA heavyweight title in a fight that will be taking place at the Messelhalle, in Efurt, Thuringen, Germany.

The WBA strap has come open after the previous champion David Haye was beaten by Wladimir Klitschko last month. The WBA then elevated Wladimir to “Super World” heavyweight champion, and this once again freed up the WBA regular title for Povetkin and Chagaev to fight over.

Chagaev, 32, held the WBA title from 2007 to 2009, but only defended it twice in all that time due to illness and injury problems. He finally was stripped of the title in 2009 for not defending it enough. In June 2009, Chagaev was destroyed by Wladimir in a 9th round TKO. Since then, he’s beaten Kali Meehan and Travis Walker to the No.1 spot in the WBA rankings. Chagaev had been trying to get a fight with Haye, but he sidestepped around him to fight Wladimir. Chagaev would have had a real chance to beat Haye had he given him a chance, because as it turns out, Haye showed that he has every little ability at the heavyweight level.

Povetkin’s career has been strange one. He was fighting well in 2007 and 2008, and looked to be on his way to getting a title shot against Wladimir. Instead of taking the opportunity when it was given to him, Povetkin opted to continue fighting fluff opponents in the theory that he needed more time to develop. The fluff hasn’t improved his game whatsoever as far as I can tell. If anything, Povetkin looks worse. He’s still unbeaten though, and probably good enough to squeak by Chagaev if he can throw enough punches.