Number of the Beast

Nikolay Valuev lost in his 47th fight

There is a new heavyweight champion. Ruslan Chagaev, representing Uzbekistan, took the WBA title from Russian Nikolai Valuev. After a 12-round fight, two of the three referees gave a well-deserved victory to White Tyson - 115:113 and 117:111, and only one found grounds for a draw - 114:114. This was Nikolai Valuev’s 47th fight in the professional ring; the previous ones invariably ended in victory for the Russian heavyweight. There was very little left to reach the record of the legendary Rocky Marciano (49 victories in a row), but Valuev fell short.

He probably didn't have many chances. Many were generally surprised how Valuev, who does not have a very extensive understanding of boxing technique, wins one victory after another only thanks to his size. However, there was also the skill of the promoters - the team selected Valuev’s opponents according to his strength, perhaps thanks to which he remained on the throne for almost a year and a half since he managed to take the championship title from John Ruiz in December 2005. During this time, the Russian not only fought three fights, each of which ended in a knockout victory, but also concluded a number of lucrative commercial contracts, having managed to make money on his image of the Beast from the East, 213 cm tall and weighing one and a half centners. But once The Beast had to make a mandatory title defense against an official challenger with decent technique, the crown had to be returned.

The representative of Uzbekistan, Ruslan Chagaev, nicknamed White Tyson, was considered a fairly technical boxer even as an amateur: two victories at the world championships and 23 fights without defeat in the professional ring are the best confirmation of this. But in the fight against Valuev, Chagaev, like all the rivals of the Russian boxer, needed to solve the problem of size - the challenger weighed more than 40 kg less than the champion (144.7 kg for Valuev versus 103.5 for Chagaev).

White Tyson turned out to be the first of Valuev’s opponents who managed to turn the difference in weight from a disadvantage into an advantage. From the very first rounds, Chagaev moved very actively around the ring, not allowing Valuev to press himself to the ropes or drive him into a corner. The sharp counterattacks of the left-handed Chagaev were quite effective, but Valuev’s right hand, on the contrary, turned out to be practically useless. In vain, the Russian’s coach Manvel Gabrielyan tried in every available way to make adjustments to the course of the fight; even the meaning of idiomatic expressions familiar to any Russian did not reach Valuev.

Valuev had, perhaps, the only chance to save the fight only in the tenth round. By this time, even the fast Chagaev had time to swing and missed a couple of left jabs, and Valuev finally turned on the right straight. But the Uzbek boxer resisted, and having responded with dignity a round later, at the end of the fight he managed to maintain his advantage. With the final gong, he fell to his knees and raised his arms in victory. If this had not been Valuev’s last fight under his contract with Don King, the judges might still have made some controversial decision, and Chagaev’s joy would have been premature. And so Valuev had to admit his defeat himself. “I agree with the judges’ decision,” said the former world champion. - My opponent found a tactic that brought him success. Today I made a lot of mistakes, and Ruslan beat me on points. My biggest mistake is tired legs. But I will continue to box, I will come back and fight for the champion title.”

With whom and when is still a big question. Having lost, Valuev fell several levels in the world hierarchy, and it will take a lot of effort to rise again to the championship fight. No one is just going to fight the Beast from the East. “Without a belt, Nikolai Valuev, together with Wilfried Saurland and Don King, is not interesting to me, since my goal is to fight for the unification of world titles,” IBF world champion Wladimir Klitschko immediately said. On July 7, he will again enter the ring, and his opponent will be Lamon Brewster. And then, perhaps, one of the Klitschko brothers will want to meet in a unification fight with Ruslan Chagaev, the youngest of the current world heavyweight champions.

Andrey VDOVIN