7-foot giant claims WBA heavyweight title
Russian Valuev becomes tallest and heaviest (323 pounds) champ ever
Nikolay Valuev, right, defeated John Ruiz for the WBA heavywight world championship. Valuev becomes the tallest (7 feet) and heaviest (323 pounds) champion of all-time.
Updated: 8:37 p.m. ET Dec. 17, 2005
BERLIN - John Ruiz lost the WBA heavyweight title Saturday night, dropping a disputed split decision to Russian 7-footer Nikolay Valuev.
Valuev, who becomes the tallest and heaviest (323 pounds) champion of all-time, won 116-113 and 116-114 on two judges’ cards, with a third judge scoring the fight 114-114. The crowd of 10,000 booed the decision.
“I had to wait 12 years for this and now it has happened,” the 32-year-old Valuev said. “It’s fantastic.”
Ruiz, who weighed 85 pounds less than Valuev at 238, appeared to have the fight in hand, using a jab-and-grab tactic to slip in a few punches and then tie up Valuev.
Valuev began throwing combinations in the seventh round, adding to a left jab that landed from the opening round. In the ninth, Valuev even danced a bit.
Valuev landed the only punch that did damage in the final round, hitting Ruiz on the chin with a straight left that wobbled the champion. Ruiz clinched his way to the end of the fight.
“Boxing is the only sport where you can get robbed without a gun,” Ruiz said. “My promoter Don King should do his job and get a rematch.”
Ruiz’s record fell to 42-6-1, while Valuev improved to 43-0 with one no-decision.
Ruiz lost to James Toney in April, then was given the title when Toney was stripped of the crown for testing positive for steroids.
In an earlier bout, Laila Ali stopped Sweden’s Asa Sandell in the fifth round of a non-title bout with her father, former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, watching.
Ali caught the taller Swede with a left hook late in the round, then knocked her back with several punches before the referee stepped in.
Muhammad Ali, in Berlin to collect a peace prize, walked ringside to kiss his daughter after she ran her record to 22-0 with 19 knockouts.
Ali, the women’s WBC champion, had a tough time during the first two rounds from the little-known Swede, who used her height to connect several times.
“I expected the fight to be a little tougher than usual,” Ali said. “I had a game plan. They stopped the fight too early, but they do that in women’s boxing.”
Sandell’s record fell to 3-2 with one draw. The 37-year-old is a former amateur European champion who now works as a journalist.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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