Ruslan Chagaev
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (May 2009) |
Ruslan Chagaev | |
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| Born | Ruslan Chagaev October 19, 1978 |
| Nationality |  Uzbekistan |
| Other names | White Tyson |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 26 |
| Wins | 25 |
| Wins by KO | 17 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 1 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Medal record | ||
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| Representing Uzbekistan
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| Men’s Boxing | ||
| World Amateur Championships | ||
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Belfast 2001 | Super Heavyweight |
Ruslan Chagaev (Tatar: Руслан Шамил улы Чагаев, romanized: Ruslan Şamil ulı Çağaev; Russian: Руслан Шамилович Чагаев) born October 19, 1978 in Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union) is an Uzbek boxer. He is the reigning WBA heavyweight boxing champion, a title he currently shares with Russian boxer Nikolai Valuev. As an amateur boxer, he has won the Asian and World Championships in the heavyweight (81–91 kg.) category. Chagaev is an Honored Sportsman of the Uzbekistan and nicknamed "White Tyson."
Amateur achievements
Chagaev, a two-time world amateur champion, defeated legendary Cuban boxer Félix Savón to capture the gold medal at the 1997 World Championships but was then stripped of his crown for having two professional fights prior to the championships. Chagaev was reinstated as an amateur the following year when the fights were declared exhibitions.
- 1995 Won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan at Heavyweight.
- 1996 Represented Uzbekistan at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia at Heavyweight.
- lost to Luan Krasniqi (Germany) PTS (4-12)
- 1996 Won a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Havanna, Cuba at Heavyweight.
- def. Marat Tuchazyan (Armenia) RSC-3
- lost to Yurkis Sterlin (Cuba) PTS (11-14)
- 1997 Won the gold medal (later stripped) at the 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Budapest, Hungary at Heavyweight.
- def. Jonie Amour Tancongco (Belarus) PTS (15-7)
- def. Giacobbe Fragomeni (Italy) PTS (18-4)
- def. Mike Hanke (boxer) (Germany) PTS (12-7)
- def. Felix Savon (Cuba) PTS (14-4)
- 1998 Won the gold medal at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand at Heavyweight.
- def. Muzaffar Iqbal Mirza (Pakistan) RSC-1
- 1999 International Boxing Cup
- def. Felix Savon (Cuba) PTS (7-2)
- 1999 Represented Uzbekistan at the 1999 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Houston, Texas at Heavyweight.
- def. Garth Da Silva (New Zealand) PTS
- def. David Turner (Australia) RSC-1
- lost to Felix Savon (Cuba) PTS (1-9)
- 1999 Asian Championships - gold medal
- 2000 Represented Uzbekistan at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia at Heavyweight.
- def. Alexander Yatsenko (Ukraine) PTS (15-2)
- lost to Vladimer Chanturia (Georgia) PTS (12-18)
- 2001 Won the gold medal at the 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland at Super heavyweight.
- def. Csaba Kurtucz (Hungary) RTD-2
- def. Vitali Boot (Germany) RSCO-3
- def. Alexei Mazikin (Ukraine) RTD-2
Chagaev vs Savón
Chagaev is notable for being the only foreign fighter to defeat Félix Savón twice in the international competitions. First at the age of 19, he beat the then 2-time Olympic champion 14-4 to capture the 1997 World Heavyweight title. In 1999, he defeated him again 7-2 in the final of an international boxing cup in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Savon was able to avenge defeats in the 1999 World Championship, beating Chagaev 9-1.
Professional achievements
Although he fought twice in 1997, Chagaev did not start fighting regularly until 2001. The only flaw on his record came on an October 5, 2002 bout against Rob Calloway in Detroit, Michigan. At the end of third round, the fight was stopped due to Calloway having a wound caused by a headbutt. Michigan boxing rule mandated that the fight be called a Technical Draw (TD) since the bout ended by an accidental foul. Usually four rounds are needed to go to the score cards for decision.
Chagaev slowly but steadily climbed up the heavyweight ranks, first avenging the no-contest with a brutal second round knockout of Calloway, then beating undefeated Ukrainian prospect Vladimir Virchis in a close and intense punchfest, and slowly took apart prominent British boxer Michael Sprott.
In November 18, 2006, he fought the former WBA champion John Ruiz, and prevailed in a close contest. He took a split decision with scores of 117-111 and 116-112 for Chagaev, and 115-114 for Ruiz. Chagaev became the mandatory challenger for a shot at Nikolai Valuev, the WBA heavyweight champion at the time. Chagaev defeated Valuev on April 14, 2007 by a majority decision (117-111, 115-113 and 114-114) to win the title.
On June 26, 2007, it was announced that Ruslan Chagaev would partake in a heavyweight unification bout with WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov. The fight was due to take place in Moscow on October 13, 2007 and would have been the first heavyweight unification bout since 1999;[1] however, Chagaev had to drop out of the fight after contracting hepatitis B.[2] At that point, it was not clear whether he would have been able to compete at all, with WBA considering a championship tournament for Chagaev's crown.[3] After Ibragimov defended his crown against Evander Holyfield, however, it was announced that Chagaev was able to recover.
Chagaev defended his WBA heavyweight title against Matt Skelton on January 19, 2008 by unanimous decision.
His next mandatory defense was to be a rematch on July 5, 2008 with Nikolai Valuev, who defeated former WBO champion Sergei Liakhovich by unanimous decision to earn the right. However, the fight had to be cancelled after Chagaev suffered a complete tear of an Achilles tendon during his final sparring session in preparation for the defense, causing Chagaev's second postponement of the match. Because of the injury and necessary recovery time, the WBA elected to make Chagaev "Champion in recess," and mandated that top-contenders Valuev and John Ruiz meet for the vacated title.[4] Valuev became Co-Champion by beating John Ruiz on August 30, 2008.
Chagaev returned from injury on February 7, 2009 with a victory over the then-unbeaten Costa Rican, Carl Davis Drumond to retain his title. The bout was decided by a controversial technical decision after Chagaev sustained a cut from an unintentional clash of heads. Chagaev and Nikolai Valuev are now joint holders of the WBA belt. They must fight no later than June 26, 2009, to determine who the WBA regard as their Champion.[5] They were scheduled to fight on 30th May 2009 in Helsinki, Finland at the Hartwall Arena, but Chagaev failed a Finnish medical test, alegedly due to contracting hepatitis.
Chagaev will now fight Wladimir Klitschko in a unification bout on 20 June for Chagaev's WBA title, Klitschko's IBF and WBO titles, and the vacant Ring magazine title.
Ethnicity
Chagaev's parents, Shamil and Zamira Chagaev, are from the Tatar village of Kalda (located in today's Baryshsky District of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia), who moved to Uzbekistan in the 1950s.
See also
References
- ^ "ESPN - Ibragimov, Chagaev to unify heavyweigh titles - Boxing". Retrieved 2007-06-28.
- ^ "Skelton to face Chagaev for WBA heavyweight title". USA TODAY. Gannett Co. Inc. Associated Press. 2007-12-06. Retrieved 2002-02-16.
- ^ "Boxing Commentary: The WBA Tournament - Are These Guys Crazy?".
- ^ http://www.fightnews.com/fightnews_2/headlines//EkEVEZAyykrZOHEfgS.html
- ^ http://www.notifight.com/artman2/publish/Resultado_2/Chagaev_venci_a_Davis_Drummond_en.php
External links
- Ruslan Chagaev Fight-by-Fight Career Record
- News and Pictures of Ruslan Chagaev
- Boxing record for Ruslan Chagaev from BoxRec (registration required)
- Ministry of Cultural and Sports Affairs of Uzbekistan
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