Inspired Povetkin overcomes Chagaev

Rafael's remark: First things first: the title that Povetkin claimed is a sham. Completely and utterly. On July 2, Wladimir Klitschko embarrassed David Haye to win the WBA belt and add it to his collection. However, the horrible WBA, which is singlehandedly making a mockery of world titles even more than the lowly WBC (which is hard to do), simply named Klitschko a so-called "super champion" and created this pointless title. Maybe a few people in Russia, Povetkin's home country, will consider him a world champion, but few others will. Besides, Klitschko already destroyed Chagaev, a former titlist, in 2009 and Povetkin, in a calculated move by trainer Teddy Atlas, ducked Klitschko, going so far as to pull out of a mandatory fight for a career-high payday of more than $2 million that was scheduled for September 2010.

So while the belt Povetkin, 31, a 2004 Russian Olympic gold medalist, and Chagaev, 32, a native of Uzbekistan based in Germany, fought for was merely a paper trinket, at least their desire to own it helped make the match between the top 10 heavyweights. And, as heavyweight fights go these days, it was a pretty good fight, one made available to American fans on Epix.

Although Povetkin began well, Chagaev picked up the pace in the fifth and sixth rounds. He was moving well and putting his punches together while Povetkin was looking confused against the southpaw. Chagaev rocked him with a left hand in the fifth round and was landing cleanly in the sixth round, including an overhand left to the head that wobbled Povetkin, who seemed winded at that point. Atlas knew Povetkin was in rough waters and brought out one motivational speech after another between rounds with the help of a translator. What Atlas was saying, including invoking the death of Povetkin's father and telling him he needed to fight for his dad's memory, seemed to inspire Povetkin. He got himself back on track and fought back with the kind of passion that had been missing earlier in the fight.

Atlas nearly did not train Povetkin for the fight because of a conflict between the camp in Russia and his duties as the analyst for ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights," but when Povetkin called him personally, Atlas went, leaving the final three "FNF" cards to a series of fill-in analysts. Although Atlas was very concerned that he had only 23 days in camp to train Povetkin (whom Atlas said was not in the best shape when he got there), they were able to get the job done under difficult circumstances. If Atlas was not in the corner lighting a fire under Povetkin with exactly the right words, he very well might not have won the fight.

Former champ Evander Holyfield, 48, was invited to sit ringside by Povetkin's promoter, Wilfried Sauerland, and, pathetically, might get the first crack at Povetkin, who will stay away from Klitschko probably for as long as he can.

Rafael's remark: Finland's Helenius, 27, nicknamed the "Nordic Nightmare", is one of the more intriguing up-and-coming heavyweights. He's huge -- 6-foot-6 and 243 pounds -- and beginning to fashion a solid resume. With his nasty knockout of Liakhovich, Helenius put the name of a third former titlist on his record.

In January 2010, Helenius smashed up the remains of faded Lamon Brewster, stopping him in the eighth round and sending him into retirement. In April, he dropped Samuel Peter twice en route to a clean ninth-round knockout for his career-best win. And now he has a nice knockout of Liakhovich to go with them while also becoming a serious contender, even though he is not quite ready to face Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko. Helenius struggled early against the energetic Liakhovich, 35, who was fighting for the first time in 15 months. They had been scheduled to fight on July 16, but the bout was delayed because Helenius was dealing with inflammation in his right hand. There were no signs of any hand issues, however, when they finally did meet. It was an entertaining fight, but one Helenius slowly took over as the bout wore on.

According to Main Events promoter Kathy Duva, who handles Liakhovich, he suffered a broken nose in the second round that hampered his breathing. Helenius is obviously heavy handed and had bruised Liakhovich's face. His nose was also bleeding when Helenius turned it up in the eight round, dropping Liakhovich with an onslaught near the end of the round. Liakhovich was spent and Helenius took him out 19 seconds into the ninth round when he landed a booming left uppercut and four more shots to drop him again as referee Stanley Christodoulou called it off. It was another good victory for Helenius, who seems to have a bright future in a division in need of an exciting young contender. Liakhovich, meanwhile, has nothing to be ashamed of. He was game as ever and showed that despite being stopped, he is not done yet.

Rafael's remark: In April, Mexico's Solis, 30, regained his old belt when he outpointed Luis Lazarte on his turf in Argentina. Returning to his hometown, Solis faced the Philippines' Oliva, 24, who took the bout on two weeks' notice when Argentina's Adrian Miranda dropped out. Originally, the bout was supposed to headline "Top Rank Live," but it was scratched from the broadcast at the last minute and wound up on Azteca America while the other title bout on the same card aired on "Top Rank Live." It was a weird situation, one that seems to happen all too often with Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran's fights that he puts on in conjunction with Top Rank.

Solis hopes for a rematch with flyweight titlist Brian Viloria or a unification bout with Roman Gonzalez now that he is safely through the fight with Oliva, who made it a tough fight despite the one-sided scores. Oliva landed some solid left hands during the fight and Solis, whose suffered a cut and swollen left eye in the eighth round, was certainly on the lookout for the punch after tasting his power. But this was a typical Solis fight -- a bit ugly with holding and wrestling here and there, but also a professional performance from a seasoned veteran titleholder.

Rafael's remark: The weekend was dominated by heavyweights, but this was its best fight as Fuentes pulled the big upset against his Mexican countryman in a terrific battle of little guys. Garcia, 28, has been one of the better strawweights for the past several years. He made four title defenses in his first reign before losing his belt in his only previous loss to South Africa's Nkosinathi Joyi in March 2010. He claimed another title last year and was making his second defense against the untested Fuentes. But Fuentes, 25, was more than up to the task as they slugged it out in a crowd-pleasing affair that headlined a "Top Rank Live" telecast.

It was a close, competitive fight all the way and featured an exciting ebb and flow. Fuentes dropped Garcia with a left hook just before the end of the seventh round before Garcia rallied to score a knockdown in the ninth round. Fuentes, however, seemed undeterred. He was filled with energy late in the fight and opened a cut over Garcia's eye. When the fight ended the feeling was that it could have gone either way. Fuentes got the nod via split decision and it is hard to argue against it, although a rematch would certainly be welcome.

Rafael's remark: For several years, Andrade, of La Habra, Calif., has been a top-10 super middleweight contender, but unable to get over the hump. Three times he lost challenging for a title, twice to Lucian Bute and once to Mikkel Kessler. Entering this fight, his first as pro in his native Mexico, Andrade, who turns 33 on Sept. 2, was in dire need of a win. He was upset via decision by Aaron Pryor Jr. in May and had lost three of his last five (including both fight with Bute, one of which was by knockout). He got his win and it came early, but it was not entirely easy as O'Brien was a game opponent.

Although nationally televised on Televisa in Mexico, American fight fans were able watch the Golden Boy card courtesy of the typically outstanding AT&T U-Verse live stream and it was a pretty good one, culminating with Andrade taking out O'Brien with a pair of third-round knockdowns. Andrade was on the offensive from the start and finally rocked him with an uppercut in the third round. Despite a bloody nose, Andrade would eventually drop O'Brien twice, including with a body shot. O'Brien, whose face was marked up and cut, gingerly beat the count, but his corner waived the white towel and it was called off at referee Jose Guadalupe Garcia called it off at 2 minutes, 20 seconds. O'Brien, 34, of British Colombia, lost his second fight in a row and third of his last four.

Rafael's remark: This was supposed to be cakewalk for Ornelas, whose older brother, Librado Andrade, won in the main event. Instead Ornelas had a tough battle with Contreras, a 26-year-old from Mexico, who dropped to 1-8-1 in his last 10 bouts. But he was there to fight hard against Ornelas, 30, of La Habra, Calif., who was fighting in his native Mexico for the first time as a professional. Although Ornelas appeared to be ahead throughout the bout, Contreras was in his face all night in what was a solid action fight with plenty of hard hitting. Ornelas has now won two in a row since losing a unanimous decision challenging super middleweight titlist Robert Stieglitz in November.

Rafael's remark: Wilder, 25, who received a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics -- the only American boxer to medal -- remains a raw prospect nearly three years into his professional career. He had a very limited amateur career, despite the Olympic medal, and is still probably a long way from fighting a significant opponent. Fighting in his hometown, Wilder continued to learn on the job as he took out Alexander, 28, of Topeka, Kan., a very low level opponent who lost his third in a row and dropped to 1-5 in his last six (with all five losses coming by knockout). In the second round, Wilder forced Alexander into a corner with a flurry of six punches, including an overhand right that dropped him to the canvas. Alexander survived, but the fight was over a few seconds later when Wilder dropped him again with another right hand.

Rafael's remark: Gomez was a standout amateur and favorite to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, but he decided to turn pro last year after being offered a fat deal from Golden Boy Promotions to do so. Although his mark is perfect in the pros, Gomez has not always been in top condition or as focused as his handlers would like him to be, but that seems to have changed in recent fights. He needed every bit of his conditioning and focus to squeeze past Granados in a tough, hard-fought fight that was the best "Solo Boxeo Tecate" main event in quite some time.

This was not the typical mismatch that Golden Boy has often featured on the Telefutura series. Instead, Gomez, 19, of East Los Angeles, and Granados, 22, who was fighting in his hometown, slugged it out in a crowd pleasing fight. From the opening bell, they were both aggressive and looking to make it a battle. Gomez scored the only knockdown of the fight in the final seconds of the second round when Granados walked into a straight right hand and went down on his rear end. But the round ended before Gomez could see if he was hurt. For the rest of the fight they traded blows and marked up each other's face with clean shots. Gomez, however, was a little more accurate and a bit busier, enabling him to score the majority decision in an excellent fight, by far the hardest of his young career.

It was a good test for Gomez, especially going into his opponent's hometown, and an admirable performance from Granados despite the loss.

Rafael's remark: Once a year, Senchenko, 33, of Ukraine, comes out of hiding to defend his paper title in his hometown against a hand-picked opponent with little chance to win. This is the same scenario that played out once again as Senchenko made his third defense against Avendano, a 38-year-old journeyman from Venezuela best known for a pair of decision losses (in 2008 and 2009) to Nobuhiro Ishida, the Japanese fighter who knocked out James Kirkland in the first round in April in a huge upset.

Senchenko, who was fighting for the 13th consecutive time in Donetsk, and Avendano clashed heads in the opening round and suffered cuts. Eventually, Senchenko, who is trained by Freddie Roach, took over the fight, as expected, when he rocked Avendano with a right hand in the sixth round before cracking him to the head again and with a left hand to the body to drop him as referee Steve Smoger called off the fight at 2 minutes, 40 seconds.

Rafael's remark: Ahhh, yet another bout for a nonsensical WBA "regular" title. Andre Ward, of course, holds the main title and is set to defend it in a unification fight against Carl Froch in the Super Six World Boxing Classic final on Oct. 29. And don't forget that Brian Magee recently won the interim belt. But that means nothing to the odious WBA, which loves to have multiple titles in the same division -- three now at 168 pounds -- so it can squeeze out another sanctioning fee.

Balzsay, 32, of Hungary, who briefly held a super middleweight belt in 2009, and Kashtanov, 27, who was fighting in his hometown and had trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, met for the paper belt in what was a hard-fought fight. They had the bout in a 50,000-seat stadium and it was virtually empty. The wide camera shots of the arena were amazing because it was desolate except for the little ring in the middle with a few people around it. Maybe there were a couple of thousand people there. It was very odd. They fought at a pretty decent pace and Kashtanov had some good moments in the competitive bout. He landed some solid right hands, including one at the end of the sixth round that wobbled Balzsay and another did that the same thing early in the seventh. He also opened small cuts over and under Balzsay's left eye. They were in the fight going to the 12th round and they let it all hang out in an action-packed frame during which they traded toe-to-toe.

Overall, however, Balzsay was the more accurate puncher throughout the bout and eked out the tight decision despite being on Kashtanov's turf. Balzsay is now supposed to face Dimitri Sartison, who had held the "regular" belt before being stripped because he was unable to defend it because of a knee injury.