Not a beastly appetite at all

Nikolai Valuev returned to the ring without shine

Former world champion Nikolai Valuev fought his first fight after losing the title. The return of the “Beast from the East” to the ring did not turn out to be stunning - the little-known Canadian Jean-Francois Bergeron was never knocked out. But the fight ended in a completely predictable victory for the Russian on points, which did not answer the question of whether Valuev was ready to start a new campaign for the title.

Meanwhile, they were waiting for some revelations from Nikolai Valuev. In the five months that passed after his first career defeat from Ruslan Chagaev, under the leadership of the new coach Alexander Zimin, Nikolai had to increase his endurance, mobility and, most importantly, technique. But in the first five rounds, the spectators at the EWE-Arena in Oldenburg, Germany, watched the same good old, a little sluggish and phlegmatic, embarrassed to hit his opponent in the face, Valuev. However, Chagaev could not take away the advantage in height and weight from the Russian, along with the WBA world champion title. And in order to be number one in a fight with such an opponent as Bergeron, this was quite enough.

The Canadian also had a plan for the fight. Chagaev showed how to defeat such a giant as Valuev - you need to move around a lot and quickly counterattack at every opportunity and immediately bounce back. It will be problematic to achieve a knockout using such tactics, but the points will “drip” regularly. This is what Bergeron did for the first four rounds, until in the fifth he missed a really hard blow from Valuev. The Canadian survived, and it became clear why he did not suffer a single defeat in 27 fights in his career. And again everything fell into place - Nikolai Valuev, as the favorite, took a position in the center of the ring, and Jean-Francois Bergeron continued to fuss around.

The Russian broke the slow pace of the fight only in the 11th round. Classes with a new coach seem to have given Valuev something after all. By the end of the fight with such an agile opponent, the Russian looked quite tolerable and even ventured into several long attacks. Two of them - in the penultimate and final rounds - could have ended sadly for Bergeron, but, walking along the ropes, he still managed to avoid a knockout.

Without sending his opponent to the floor, Nikolai Valuev waited for the judges’ decision. The judges were almost unanimous: 117:111 and twice 118:111 in favor of the Russian, first place in the WBA rankings and an insignificant NABA champion title to boot. The fans were skeptical of the judge's decision and booed Valuev's victory. “In general, judges’ decisions always cause controversy if you don’t knock out your opponent,” Valuev was philosophical about the audience’s reaction. - Perhaps some of the fans were simply rooting for Bergeron, who is simply smaller than me in size. In any case, a new path to the title began for me. I intend to get my championship belt back."

Meanwhile, the fate of another championship belt should be decided in a week. After Oleg Maskaev refused to defend the WBC title in a fight against Samuel Peter due to injury, the leadership of the World Boxing Council awarded the Nigerian the interim championship title and ordered him to defend it against Jamil McCline. Peter, however, wanted to meet with Andrzej Golota or Oliver McCall. But the Pole’s candidacy did not suit the Showtime channel, which will broadcast the boxing evening, and former world champion McCall asked for too high a fee. So Peter, having just received a temporary title, may immediately lose it - Jamil McCline, whose championship fight with Vladimir Klitschko recently fell through, is quite a serious contender, in a fight with whom it will not be easy for the Nigerian.

Andrey VDOVIN