On 17 December 2005, Nicolay Valuev, the gigantic “Beast from the East”, shattered the record set by Primo Carnera seven decades ago and became the largest ever world heavyweight champion. At just under 7ft 2ins and weighing 323lbs (that’s 23st 7lbs) for his title fight vs WBA incumbent John Ruiz at the Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany, Valuev bests the Ambling Alp’s dimensions by seven inches and some 53lbs.
“Size matters” is an easy line to reach for and, indeed, many hack journalists did clutch at the clichés because, lo and behold, Valuev’s title challenge was deemed newsworthy not only in publications that traditionally cover boxing but also in the so-called mainstream newspapers. Some tabloids stretched to two and even three page previews. True, much of what was printed was Xeroxed from BM (happy to pay the mortgages once again, fellas) but, obviously, Valuev has far broader appeal than any other fighter in the heavyweight division.
Is Valuev the long awaited saviour of the heavyweights? Doubtful, but after years of whacking out debutants and no-hopers, he has proved himself good enough to call himself a world heavyweight champ in 2006.
And forget the assertion, instigated by respected Boston writer and Ruiz’s friend Ron Borges, that this was another “Germanic decision”. It was a close fight that was peppered with rounds open to interpretation. As it was, judges Derek Milham of Australia and Hector Hernandez of Mexico scored the bout 116-114 and 116-113 respectively for the giant while New Zealand‘s Francisco Martinez had it a draw, 114-114.
Scoring from television, I had it 116-115 for the big Russian but, despite the wafer thin margin, my overall impression of the fight was that the big ‘un had more of his own way throughout.
“It was very close,” admitted German promoter Wilfred Sauerland to this magazine. “At ringside I had Nico winning by one round only. At home watching the fight the next day [on tape] I had Nico by two rounds, but it was very close. Nico always looks bad in the first two or three rounds and usually he then takes over. What happened with Ruiz is that Ruiz rushed in headfirst and, no matter the target, he fired off a couple of punches at Nico and then held on so Nico never had a chance to fire back.
“It was a fight where you had a decision: did you like Nico’s [more tidy work] with the jab and uppercut or Ruiz’s head-first charges? But it was a close fight and it also was not a great fight — I very much appreciate that it was not exciting — but against Ruiz, who can show a good and exciting performance?”
The 32-year-old new WBA champion echoed his promoter’s sentiments. “I excuse myself for a bad performance. It was very difficult to land the punches I normally like to land, but I am still happy I found [a way to] the victory. I have worked 12 years for this. I proved with Mr Sauerland I am more than a freakshow [act] and now I have proved I am a champion.”
If promoter Don King seemed less than crestfallen at losing a second world heavyweight champ in less than seven days (following WBC champ Hasim Rahman’s defection to Top Rank), let Sauerland explain it to you.
“Don King has co-promotional rights for Nico’s next four fights,” said the German. “We did the deal before the Ruiz fight. King has input on everything, including opponents, date, venue, but the final say is with Nico and myself.”
King wanted to take the fighter he has dubbed “King Kong” to the U.S. immediately, but the Germans have already scheduled a first defence for Berlin on 1 April. “Nico will fight in America in September,” said Sauerland. “I’ve already had great interest from HBO and Showtime, but first Nico will fight a Don King heavyweight rated in the Top 10 in Germany.”
Brave but limited Owen Beck is among the favourites to get the call.
As for the title win itself, when Ruiz literally sprinted the 250 metres from the backstage area to the ring, you knew the two-time title-holder’s battleplan.
The German promoters make no secret of the fact their Russian import often starts slowly and the Puerto Rican-American wanted to take full advantage and prove that he wasn’t intimidated by the 91lbs and 12ins size handicap.
Ruiz had a strong opening round, wading forward with hooks to the mid-section and also landing a crisp right cross, but the giant’s long left jab began to speak in the second. Soon it was clear Valuev planned to win with the jab and, whenever Ruiz did rush forward, to out-grapple the division’s most infamous grappler.
Ruiz circled quickly to his right, limiting the slower (although far from ponderous) goliath’s use of the big right cross. In fact, with his intelligent defence and sound gameplan, this was Ruiz’s best performance since he first became a world champion by besting Evander Holyfield in March 2001.
Yet the giant’s size — and simple but well-rehearsed skills — were a match for Ruiz’s experience and courage.
And Valuev’s stamina is very impressive, if one stops to think about it. Against Ruiz he threw dozens of thudding jabs every round. Ruiz’s left eye was bruised before the end of third and that some of the giant’s lead lefts fell short is evidence that whenever Ruiz was not boring in, he was completely out of range to land anything of his own.
Often, Valuev went for the big right uppercut to try and catch the defending champion coming in. The shot landed only occasionally, but in concert with fatigue, it was enough to ensure Ruiz’s eye-catching raids became less frequent during the middle rounds.
It should be noted that the challenger was repeatedly warned by referee Stanley Christodoulou for drooping as much of his bulk as possible around Ruiz’s neck and back, but a point was never deducted.
It was still close in the championship rounds, but both men took the 11th round off. However, the fight finally caught fire in the last, when each took turns in rolling forward in attempts to land a rare flush punch. Of the two, the bigger man threw more and seemed to hurt Ruiz with a thudding right. It was enough to win the round and, for me, the decision.
“He was holding and hitting all night,” complained Ruiz.
The irony of that statement, coming from the lips of the originator of the Greco-Roman style of boxing takes your breath away, and was certainly not lost on those fans who have desired to be rid of Ruiz.
It may not be fair, but the fact is it takes a considerable effort of empathy to feel sorry for Ruiz, who may be a nice enough fella but is deathly dull in what, ultimately, is supposed to be a spectacle of entertainment.
And if Ruiz was slightly unlucky to lose his WBA title for a second time, he shouldn’t complain too long and loud. He was resoundingly outboxed last April by a grossly overweight James Toney, only to be reinstated when Lights Out tested positive for a banned substance.
Nonetheless, Ruiz remains the only heavyweight champion in history to lose to two former middleweights champions in title fights.
“They booed their own champion,” the geographically challenged Ruiz, now 41-6-1 (28 KOs) stated afterwards. “The fans should scream like I’m going to scream.”
Ruiz’s volcanic manager/trainer Norman Stone, perhaps sensing he had to do something dramatic to save his job (he was fired days later), didn’t limit his indignation to mere words. As the new champion was posing with the belt (which was far to small to fit around his waist), “Stoney” skulked back into the ring, angrily snatched the strap off the giant’s shoulders and furiously pranced around the ring with it.
Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humour? The fans were clearly amused by the aged pantomime thug’s antics and hooted with delight as Valuev’s cutsman, Hagen Sevecke, exploded after Stone, grappling with him until cutting lose with a right hook.
Sauerland added that far from booing the decision, the crowd was actually booing Ruiz’s unsportsmanlike storming off immediately after the decision was announced. Certainly, the fans were chanting “Nico! Nico! Nico!” as Stone was ejected from the arena after his little outburst.
Whatever, Carnera’s 71-year-old record is gone forever and, if not quite for the reasons boxing followers would hope, we have a heavyweight champion who at least gets covered outside the dedicated press.
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