Nikolai Valuev

Nikolai Valuev
Born	Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev (1973-08-21) August 21, 1973 Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian
Other names	Russian giant Beast from the east
Statistics
Weight(s)	Super heavyweight
Height	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	51
Wins	49
Wins by KO	34
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	1

Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev (Russian: Николай Сергеевич Валуев) is a Russian boxer, famous for his 2.13 meter (7 ft) height and 147 kilograms (324 lbs) weight. Valuev won the World Boxing Association title on December 17 2005, beating American John Ruiz, and successfully defended the title three times. At its best, his record stood at 46 wins, no draws, no defeats and one no contest, four victories away from Rocky Marciano's record; however, on April 14, 2007 he lost his title to Ruslan Chagaev by majority decision. His current record is 49-1, with 34 knockouts.

He won the WBA title on August 30, 2008.

Recently he also started an acting career.

Biography

Valuev was born on August 21, 1973 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). Valuev is of Russian descent, but he also had a Tatar grandfather.

Valuev reads Leo Tolstoy and other great Russian writers, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Jack London. He wooed his wife, Galya, with poetry that he composed himself. He has two young children, a son and a daughter. He hunts deer, ducks and wild boar and goes fishing with his son. He once wrestled and killed a wild boar, which had attacked one of his dogs while he was hunting in the forests near St. Petersburg.

Valuev is a Russian Orthodox Christian. During his youth he played water polo and basketball, and was also a discus thrower.

Boxing career

After an amateur career where he had a record of 23-0, with 16 knockouts, he became a professional fighter in 1993. His debut match was against American John Morton, and Valuev beat him by knockout in the second round. In 1999 he captured the Russian heavyweight title and in 2000 he won a Pan-Asian title.

Valuev propelled himself into a position to fight for a world title with victories over Bob Mirovic, Otis Tisdale, Paolo Vidoz, Gerald Nobles, Attila Levin, and Clifford Etienne.

1st Title bout vs. Ruiz

On December 17, 2005, Valuev squared off with WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz, and won a twelve-round majority-decision. Two judges favored Valuev by scores of 116-114 and 116-113, while the third saw the fight as a 114-114 draw — enough to give Valuev the title. This victory came after narrowly defeating Larry Donald on points in the title elimination bout.

Title defense vs. Beck

On Saturday June 3, 2006, in his first defence of the WBA Heavyweight Championship, Nikolai Valuev (then 44-0, 33 KOs) defeated challenger Owen Beck (25-3, 18 KOs) by a third-round technical knockout in Hannover, Germany. Before this fight, the small sized Beck had only fought one contender, where he was knocked out by Monte Barrett in 9 rounds.

Title defense vs. Barrett

On Saturday October 7, 2006, Valuev fought Monte Barrett and defeated him with a technical knockout in the 11th round, for Valuev's 45th win. Barrett was knocked down twice in the 8th and once in the 11th round, but managed to get up. After being knocked down for the final time in the eleventh round, his trainer James Ali Basheer jumped into the ring to stop the fight.

Title defense vs. McCline

On January 20, 2007, Valuev fought Jameel McCline (38-6-3, 23 KO's) in St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland. Valuev won the match, successfully defending his title, after McCline was not able to continue the bout after injuring his knee when throwing a punch near the end of the 3rd round.

Failed mandatory title defense vs. Chagaev

In the tournament to determine who would next challenge Valuev for his title, Ruslan Chagaev from Uzbekistan beat John Ruiz, who lost his championship to Valuev in 2005. The title defense was held on April 14, 2007. Chagaev defeated Valuev by a majority decision (117-111, 115-113 and 114-114).

Post-championship career

Valuev changed trainers, transitioning from the animated Manuel Gabrielian to the more austere Alexander Zimin, who coached the old Soviet Union amateur boxing team.

On September 29, 2007, Valuev won against Jean-Francois Bergeron in Oldenburg, Germany, by a 12-round unanimous decision (118-111, 118-111 and 118-111).

In a 16 February 2008 title eliminator, Valuev produced a dominating performance against former titleholder Sergei Liakhovich from Belarus, winning every roundin at the Nuremberg Arena in Germany. Valuev's long left jab - the giant has an 85-inch reach -- was a key weapon, for it thudded through Liakhovich's guard repeatedly. Liakhovich was kept off balance through much of the bout, and Valuev dominated the exchanges with a variety of punching. The victory earned Valuev the right to face Chagaev for the WBA title again, the only man who has defeated him in his boxing career. He was scheduled to face Chagaev for his WBA title on July 5, 2008, but Chagaev pulled out with an injury. Valuev instead fought John Ruiz for the vacant title on August 30, 2008, with the winner having to face Chagaev no later than June 26, 2009. Valuev defeated Ruiz by unanimous decision to regain the WBA heavyweight championship. Valuev remains the only active boxer to never have slipped or been knocked down or out.

Retakes Championship Title

On August 30, 2008, Valuev defeated John Ruiz and regained the heavyweight championship title.

Acting Career

Valuev's first role in a movie was a cameo appearance in the German film 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug in 2006.

In 2008 Valuev played the main role in the film Stonehead by Philip Yankovskiy, playing an ex-boxer who lost his memory. That film took the main prize at the movie festival "Window to Europe".

After the success of Stonehead, it was announced Valuyev is being filmed in two new films at the same time.

Outside the ring

In January 2006 Valuev was accused of verbal assault by a security guard at the Spartak Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. The guard, Yuri Sergeyev, claims Valuev's wife parked her car inappropriately, and a request to move the car led to an argument. Sergeyev alleges Valuev then appeared and assaulted him. Valuev however said his wife was crying and that he only grabbed the guard by the collar, adding "If I were to have actually hit him, as some people are saying, the consequences for this person would have been more serious. I think I acted as any normal man in my place would have done." No criminal investigation was ever launched by local police. Sergeyev was admitted to City Hospital No 3 where he was diagnosed as suffering from "closed craniocerebral injury, thorax and cerebral contusion." He threatened to launch a private civil suit against Valuev. He won the suit, and Valuev has now been ordered to pay 130,000 roubles (5,400 USD) in damages.

Valuev has written a book in Russian called My 12 Rounds, with the help of a prominent Russian journalist Konstantin Osipov. The book discusses his life in general and his boxing career in particular. For that book, Valuyev reviced an award from the government of Saint Petersburg.

According to Valuev, he eats three kilos of meat daily.

Valuyev is a Russian Orthodox, a member of the same faith as the majority of Russian people. He has also said that, apart from a physical education, he also wants to give his son a spiritual education. That is why he bought him an icon.

External links

• Boxing record for Nikolai Valuev from BoxRec (registration required)
• Valuev interview
• Valuev interview
• Template:De icon Personal page from promoter
• Template:Ru icon Official personal site Template:En icon
• Boxing-Encyclopedia

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