CAN CHAGAEV FELL THE RUSSIAN GIANT?
Posted on | April 1, 2007 | 1 Comment
Ruslan Chagaev: Can he dethrone the Russian Giant?
By Matt Yanofsky
On April 14, undefeated southpaw power house Ruslan Chagaev 22-0-1 {17 Ko’s} will be set to challenge undefeated WBA Heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev in Stuttgart, Germany. Valuev, who stands seven feet tall, is 47-0 (34 Ko’s) and last fought January 20 against
Jameel Mccline. Mccline won two of the first three rounds before strangely stumbling to the canvas, injuring his knee, and being forced to quit at the bell of the third round. Valuev is only two victories away from tying Rocky Marciano’s heavyweight record of 49 wins without a loss. Valuev however has elected to take mostly an easier route along the road. Since escaping with a majority decision victory over John Ruiz, Valuev fought Owen Beck who is arguably the least deserving title challenger in boxing history.
After the Beck fight, the WBA Champion defended his title while making his first US appearance. Valuev once again had a questionable choice of opponent by selecting Monte Barrett on October 7 2006. Leading up to the fight, Barrett had not fought since his August 2005 loss to Hasim Rahman. After getting rocked in the first round by Barrett, Valuev took the fight over and stopped Barrett in the eleventh round. Then Valuev stopped Jameel Mccline, who aside from being 0-2 in prior title fights was dominated by journeyman Zuri Lawrence.
In Chagaev’s last fight on November 18, he soundly defeated John Ruiz in the WBA eliminator bout. In addition to defeating Ruiz, Chagaev’s most impressive wins have come against Vladimir Virchis, Rob Calloway, and Michael Sprott.
In the tale of the tape, Chagaev will have at least a 90 pound and 11 inch height deficit, which is similar to many of Valuev’s opponents. This will arguably be the first time Valuev is facing an undefeated opponent in his prime. In addition, Chagaev is a southpaw which could create a stylistic struggle for Valuev. Both men also fight out of Germany which should eliminate the chance of Valuev escaping with a questionable victory such as the ones over John Ruiz, Larry Donald, and Gerald Nobles.
Valuev has indicated if he is victorious, he plans to face Wladimir Klitschko in his next fight. However, before Valuev looks to tie Marciano’s record, he will have hands full seeking victory number 48.