Alexander Povetkin remained in the thick of the heavyweight picture by stopping Mariusz Wach in the 12^th round Wednesday in Kazan, Russia.

Povetkin (30-1, 22 knockouts) used his superior skills to outclass the bigger, but slower Wach (31-2, 17 KOs) for most of the fight, which was stopped in the final round because of a deep gash below Wach’s left eye.

Povetkin, rated No. 1 by THE RING, has won four in a row since he lost a onesided decision to Wladimir Klitschko in October 2013. The Russian hopes to fight WBC titleholder Deontay Wilder sometime next year.

Also on the card, Eduard Troyanovsky (23-0, 20 KOs) stopped Cesar Cuenca (48-1, 2 KOs) in six rounds in a matchup of unbeaten junior welterweights.

Cuenca, who lost his IBF title, went down in the sixth but got to his feet and wanted to continue. However, the referee, apparently unable to communicate effectively with Cuenca, stopped the fight anyway in a confusing conclusion.

Denis Lebedev (28-2, 21 KOs) successfully defended his WBA cruiserweight title against previously unbeaten Lateef Kayode (21-1, 16 KOs), winning by an eighth-round stoppage. Lebedev, rated No. 2 by THE RING, put Kayode down twice, once in the seventh round and again in the eighth.

Cruiserweight Ola Afolabi (22-4-4, 11 KOs) kept his career alive by stopping Rakhim Chakhkiev (24-2, 18 KOs) in the fifth round, and touted Russian 200-pounder Dmitry Kudryashov lost by second-round TKO to Olanrewaju Durodola.