Nikolai Valuev
Nikolai Valuev | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev August 21, 1973 |
| Nationality |  Russian |
| Other names | The Russian Giant The Beast From the East |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
| Height | 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 51 |
| Wins | 49 |
| Wins by KO | 36 |
| Losses | 1 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 1 |
Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev (Russian: Николай Валуев; born August 21, 1973), was the first Russian professional heavyweight boxing champion and the former holder of the WBA title between December 17, 2005, and April 15, 2007. He formerly had the nickname "The Beast from the East" but he now prefers to be styled "The Russian Giant."
Valuev is the tallest and heaviest recognized champion to this day, standing at 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) tall[1] and weighing in at [undue weight? – discuss] to [undue weight? – discuss]. [2]. He is also the third largest combative sport competitor in the world, just surpassed by the 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in) [undue weight? – discuss] K-1 fighter Choi Hong-man and 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) [undue weight? – discuss] Bob Sapp.
Valuev became a professional boxer and he won the WBA title December 17, 2005, with a points decision over American John Ruiz. He successfully defended the title three times. His record then stood at perfect 46 wins, no draws, no defeats and one no contest, and he was only four victories away of surpassing legendary Rocky Marciano's record. In a fight on April 14, 2007, however, he lost his title to Ruslan Chagaev by majority decision.
Biography
Valuev was born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg in a Russian-Tatar family. He has a wife, Galina, a five-year-old son and a daughter. 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 fourth 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.
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.[3] 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 his (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. Jakob-Halle, 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
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).[4]
His next fight will be against Sergei Liakhovich, in January 2008, with the winner to face Chagaev.[5]
Outside the ring
In January 2006 Valuev was accused of 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.[6] 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.[7]
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.
Valuev eats three kilos of meat daily, according to Pravda.ru
References
- ^ "Tale of the Tape - Valuev & Barrett Measure Up". Don King Productions. 2006-10-21.
- ^ "boxer: Nikolay Valuev".
- ^ "Valuev Becomes 'Big' Champion". Sporting Life.
- ^ Rafael, Dan (2007-08-14). "Ex-champ Valuev to fight Bergeron in Germany". ESPN.
- ^ "Valuev-Liakhovich winner to vie for Chagaev's belt".
- ^ "Russia's 'Beast from the East' in security guard assault scandal". RIA Novosti. 2006-01-26.
- ^ "Valuev: "I faced with typical Russian boorishness aggravated with alcohol"". Rin.ru. 2007-01-21.