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Nikolai Valuev vs. Ruslan Chagaev

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Nikolai Valuev vs. Ruslan Chagaev
Date14 April 2007
VenuePorsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Germany
Title(s) on the lineWBA Heavyweight Championship
Tale of the tape
Boxer Russia Nikolai Valuev Uzbekistan Ruslan Chagaev
Nickname "The Russian Giant" "White Tyson"
Hometown Saint Petersburg, Russia Andijan, Uzbekistan
Pre-fight record 46–0 (1) (34 KO) 23–0–1 (17 KO)
Age 33 years, 7 months 28 years, 5 months
Height 7 ft 0 in (213 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 319 lb (145 kg) 228+1⁄4 lb (104 kg)
Style Orthodox Southpaw
Recognition WBA
Heavyweight Champion
The Ring
No. 4 Ranked Heavyweight		 WBA
No. 1 Ranked Heavyweight
The Ring
No. 9 Ranked Heavyweight
Result
Chagaev defeated Valuev via Majority Decision

Nikolai Valuev vs. Ruslan Chagaev was a professional boxing match contested on 14 April 2007, for the WBA heavyweight championship.[1]

Background

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After his controversial victory over John Ruiz in December 2005, WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev had made 3 successful defences, all by stoppage, and had expressed interest in fighting the then-IBF world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.[2][3][4][5]

Ruslan Chagaev had become Valuev's mandatory challenger following his split decision victory over former champion Ruiz in November 2006.[6] Valuev was sat ringside and believed Chagaev was the rightful winner.[7]

During his training camp ahead of bout, Chagaev's trainer Michael Timm had a special podium built, on which he stood up so Chagaev could get used to punching up to someone with a big height advantage. Most of his sparring partners, such as Julius Long, were between 2.00 metres (6.56 ft) and 2.16 metres (7.1 ft) tall. Timm also had a Panasonic TV with a 2.5 m diagonal installed so they could study Valuev's style in full size.[8]

Valuev entered the ring as a 5 to 1 favourite.

The fight

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Chagaev landing against Valuev

Chagaev used his speed and footwork to nullify Valuev's size advantage, successfully bobbing and weaving, slipping under Valuev's jab and going back-and-forth between moving to the left and right to confuse Valuev with movement.

After 12 rounds Chagaev won the fight by a majority decision with scores of 117–111, 115–113 and 114–114.[9]

Aftermath

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Speaking after the bout Chagaev said "Before the fight everybody said that Nikolai is too tall for me to have a chance. Well, I'm smaller but I have the sting."[10] Shortly afterwards Chagaev signed to face WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov in a unification showdown that would take place in Moscow in October 2007. However, on 31 July, it was officially announced that the fight had been cancelled due to Chagaev suffering from an aggravation of gastric problems.[11] Instead, former undisputed heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield agreed to step in as a last-minute replacement.[12] It was later discovered that Chagaev had contracted hepatitis B.[13]

Undercard

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Confirmed bouts:[14]

Broadcasting

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Country Broadcaster
 Germany Das Erste
 Hungary Sport 1
 Mexico Televisa
 United Kingdom British Eurosport[15]
 United States MSG[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Nikolay Valuev vs. Ruslan Chagaev". boxrec.com/. BoxRec. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Валуев: "Увидимся в ринге, брат!"". boxnews.com.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  3. ^ ""Дам тебе бутылкой по голове". Валуев проиграл малышу Чагаеву, доведя тренера до истерики". championat.com (in Russian). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  4. ^ SECONDS OUT (7 April 2007). "VALUEV READY FOR CHAGAEV". eurosport.com. Eurosport. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  5. ^ "Chagaev can scale height". chroniclelive.co.uk. Trinity Mirror North East. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  6. ^ Borges, Ron (19 November 2006). "Uninspired Ruiz left at a loss". The Boston Globe.
  7. ^ UzReport. "Ruslan Chagaev beats John Ruiz to earn WBA heavyweight title shot – UzReport.uz". news.uzreport.uz. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  8. ^ "The White Tyson can knock out Valuev". morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  9. ^ Peter Starck (9 August 2007). "Chagaev beats Valuev to lift heavyweight title". reuters.com/. Reuters. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  10. ^ "Chagaev captures heavyweight title". cnn.com. STUTTGART, Germany: CNN. 15 April 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Skelton to face Chagaev for WBA heavyweight title". USA TODAY. Gannett Co. Inc. Associated Press. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2002.
  12. ^ "Холифилд рискнет ухом в Москве". gazeta.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  13. ^ "Skelton to face Chagaev for WBA heavyweight title". USA TODAY. Gannett Co. Inc. Associated Press. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 16 February 2002.
  14. ^ "BoxRec - event".
  15. ^ FightFranchise (22 May 2009). "Ruslan Chagaev vs Nikolai Valuev - Part 1 of 5". youtube.com. Youtube. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  16. ^ DKP (11 April 2007). "MSG Network To Air Valuev-Chagaev Live". boxingscene.com. BoxingScene. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
Preceded by Nikolai Valuev's bouts
14 April 2007 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Ruslan Chagaev's bouts
14 April 2007 		Succeeded by
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