OnThEGRiND BoXiNG

Friday May 29th, 2009
by Suge Green

When Nicolay Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev step between the ropes and into the ring in order to determine who the real WBA Heavyweight Champion is (I understand “real” and “WBA Champ” is an oxymoron, but bear with me), it will not be the first time. Oftentimes when a World Title bout is recontested, it is due to there being questions left unanswered previously. In Valuev and Chagaev’s previous meeting however, there were not many questions left unanswered. Chagaev won, Valuev lost. Nobody was clamoring for a rematch. Rather, there was an exclamation amongst boxing’s faithfully devoted, “Finally, the fraud is over!”

Many had thought and hoped that Ruslan’s victory may lead to an eventual unified heavyweight championship sport wide, with Chagaev possibly facing another heavyweight title holder. It sadly was not to be.

Ruslan Chagaev may never know how appreciated he was the world over immediately following his triumph, because he wasn’t able to follow up on it in any meaningful way. Illness and injury kept him from reaping the ripe fruits of his labor. Chagaev is for all intents and purposes right back to where he was prior to the 1st time he conquered the burly ogre (the boxing world is still indebted to him nonetheless for his acts of courage in defeating both Nicolay Valuev for the WBA Championship, and for defeating John Ruiz en route to it, and had it been a perfect or even less corrupt world in which these acts of courage occurred, both Ruiz and Valuev would have been sent to the end of the line…and it would have been the final curtain call for two of the worst acts in boxing history. The American public was unfortunately deprived of the opportunity to shower praise on Ruslan Chagaev, who would have become our first Uzbek celebrity and adopted into our multicultural tradition of sports icons).

The Valuev machine has moved forward though, and in the absence of the real WBA Title has made do with his replica (while Ruslan’s authentic title has been downgraded to Champion in Recess). As the entire boxing world already knows, the resume of Nicolai has benefited from some very shady judging in the past, both prior to his winning the championship and after losing it as well. While not to blame for the corrupt judging, Valuev is an actor playing his part.

A promoter may write the script, the judges may approve the script, but Nicolay Valuev is the one acting it out in front of hostile boxing fans who value honesty in their sport.

I first learned of Nicolay Valuev in the early part of this decade, when his bouts were sanctioned by the foreign sanctioning body, the PABA. In going over reports from overseas I was intrigued by the fact that a 7 foot tall behemoth was competing in the heavyweight division. Unimpressed by his string of KO victories, due to the lack of “name fighters” on his record, I like most considered Valuev completely untested in his part of the world.

In time however his resume would include journeyman such as George Linberger, Bob Mirovic, Otis Tisdale, Dicky Ryan, and Cliff Etienne. Though not world beaters, these men served their purpose in giving an idea of where Nicolai Valuev ranks among world-level heavyweights. Following his KO3 victory over Entienne, he stood at 40 wins no losses, and the world began to take notice of the 7 footer from St. Petersberg.

When Nicolay Valuev faced Larry Donald in 2005 in a WBA Heavyweight Championship eliminator, he was on the fast track to the title. Case in point, most observers (boxers, trainers, fans, journalists, etc.) who have recalled the bout for a reading or listening audience, have told the story of Donald outboxing Valuev over the majority of the 12 contested rounds. As a consolation prize for the respect and victory he might have earned had he truly come out on top, the WBA judges awarded Nicolay the fight’s decision. Time and time again the WBA have demonstrated that they are not about to let something petty like what actually happened in the ring sway their decision making. Valuev MD12 Donald.

Moving right along, Valuev’s next stop was for a battle with the infamous WBA Heavyweight Champion John Ruiz. The world was able to turn away from Nicolai’s gift over Donald, simply because there seemed to be a possibility that Don King had lent the WBA his own personal crow bar…and John Ruiz might finally be pryed out of the throne that his backside had been superglued to by the powers that be. John Ruiz for once in his career, and at a time when American Television had already had enough of him, actually decided to box. Valuev became one of the only men at the top level of the sport to be outboxed by John Ruiz. Not outclinched, outhugged, out cheated, or out faked on low blows…no. John Ruiz simply fought according to the rules for once, and it was enough to best the 300 plus pounder.

Of course, the WBA judges ignored their own eyes, the vocal crowd in attendance, and their consciences (this could be a minor exaggeration, due to it not being officially confirmed that WBA Judges do have consciences). The result ? Valuev MD12 Ruiz. We already have 2 gift MD12 in a row for Valuev, had it happened to any fighter other than the habitual cheater John Ruiz, perhaps there would have been more outrage. It was not to be though, and boxing looked the other way, if not on behalf of, at the very least to the benefit of Valuev…again.

Not one to be concerned with things like reputation or legitimacy, Nicolay looked to defend his “World Title” next against Owen Beck. Not to take anything away from a solid journeyman in Beck, but one still must ask the question…why ? Owen had lost 2 of his last 3 fights. The win ? Beck defeated a cruiserweight making his only heavyweight appearance in an 8 rounder by decision, following the two aforementioned losses. The corruption in this fight wasn’t in the judges decision, it was in allowing Valuev to even defend his Title against Beck in the first place.

Losing to the last 2 heavyweights faced and decisioning a cruiserweight in an 8 rounder, makes a fighter a prime candidate for both facing Valuev and competing for the WBA Heavyweight Title ? Valuev earned victory here, but I missed the part where he did something to earn the right to face challengers who are not serious threats.

Next, Nicolay was matched up against Monte “Two Guns” Barrett, who actually made a great showing for himself in the fight. This match was even harder to justify though.

Monte had no previous fight with a cruiserweight, in which he would get a quick win to enter into a Valuev contest under. No, instead Monte had just lost a decision to Hasim Rahman. There was a time when contenders had to earn the right to face the champion. Now, thanks to the WBA, a contender is a more viable, likely, and preferred challenger if he has lost in his last outing. It just doesn’t look like the WBA is interested in finding out who the best heavyweight in the world is, and certainly isn’t interested in letting whoever that may be wear their belt. Valuev for his part, seems no more interested in testing himself against the world’s best than his promoter or sanctioning body does. Though Barrett had his moments, Nicolay did as expected and defeated the man who had no business competing for the title. Again. Valuev TKO11 Barrett.

It looked like Valuev may finally get at least somewhat of a challenge when he was slated to face Jameel McCline. It wasn’t to be though, as McCline suffered a knee injury early in their bout, and was forced to retire after 3 rounds. Although not a “real victory,” this is the closest thing to one that can be found on Valuev’s “championship” record.

One more fight, and we are already at what should have been the final act.

On a fateful night in April of 2007 Nicolai met his match. This is not to say that he finally faced a fighter that was superior to him, or even to say that he finally faced a fighter that was superior to him on that particular night. Both of these happenings have occurred before. What happened when Nicolai Valuev faced Ruslan Chagaev was that the playing field was for once leveled. Nicolay didn’t suddenly become a conventionally sized heavyweight, or for once find himself outsized. In accepting the challenge of Ruslan Chagaev, Nicolay faced a heavyweight who also comes from the east. When he faced Ruslan Chagaev, Valuev faced a contender who actually was winning fights prior to facing him. Perhaps most importantly though, Chagaev’s promoter is German. For once when Valuev lost in the ring, his opponent was allowed to have his hand held in victory. Chagaev MD12 Valuev.

After losing to Chagaev, Nicolay Valuev’s career record stood at 46-1. Never one to allow a defeat in the ring (regardless if rightly called by the officials or not) to keep him down, Valuev began a new campaign. Valuev’s team, ever the illusionists, pulled a nice one in getting him right back in the picture. In their cross hairs ? Jean Francois Bergeron.

The French Canadian Heavyweight spent his career competing against a who’s who of….well, just who. The most (or only?) recognizable win on Bergeron’s record is a UD over Robert Hawkins. Hawkins had lost 4 in a row prior to facing Bergeron. Robert Hawkins is indeed the highlight of Bergeron’s carefully selected list of 27 fighters defeated prior to his 1st loss at the hands of Nicolay Valuev. Valuev UD12 Bergeron.

If the reader doesn’t already have an idea of the significance, or lack thereof of this win, consider what happened in Bergeron’s next fight when he faced world level heavyweight Dominich Guinn. Guinn KO2 Bergeron.

One win over an unworthy adversary later and Nicolay was right back in the mix for a heavyweight title eliminator. In this eliminator he was set to face former World Champion and one time Lamon Brewster conqueror, Sergei Lyakhovich. This fight has the distinction of being the only time up until that point, that Valuev faced a former World Titlist. What did Sergei have in common with nearly every other Valuev opponent that you may have heard of ? That’s right, he was coming off of a loss. Add to the equation that it was a brutal loss that saw him knocked out of the ring in the final moments of the championship rounds. Even in consideration of these variables…a former champion coming off of a loss, a brutal KO loss at that, the match up still didn’t seem bad enough for Valuev. Then one remembers that Sergei had been inactive for over a year, and was coming in at a career high 251 lbs. Now we have a very desirable Valuev opponent. Valuev UD12 Lyakhovich.

The only thing standing between Nicolay Valuev and championship gold for a second time, was his American counterpart in infamous illegitimate champions, John Ruiz. The irresistible farce was set to meet the immovable abscess…again. Ruiz defeated a fighter who lost 3 of his last 6 bouts in Otis Tisdale, to earn a shot at a Jameel McCline in a WBA Eliminator, who had lost his last 2…the winner “earned” the right to face Valuev for the vacant “Championship.” Of course, all this would make a fighter a worthy challenger in the twilight zone of boxing known as the WBA.

Anyhow, this was one fight that was sure to come down to the judging. Perhaps in consideration of the fact that not many were fooled the last time Ruiz met Valuev, or the fact that even less cared, it appears someone somewhere may have possibly taken extra precautions.

In examining the names of the assigned officials for the contest, it looked as though Valuev brought 2 judges with him from the Larry Donald fiasco of yesteryear.

Does anybody do their homework anymore ? They must have thought it was OK…maybe 1 judge with a decent reputation cancels out 2 incompetent ones, or some other like and bizarre reasoning. The judge with no previous history of bouts with blindness, Antonio Requena’s single offense seems to be in judging a Felix Sturm fight. Though nothing suspect occurred, his only bad move appears to be in actually being in the building for a Felix Sturm fight.

No matter, with 2 judges who have shown their determination not to let what actually occurs in a bout sway their decision, Valuev it appeared would have no problem securing another controversial victory. Judge Takeshi Shimakawa previously judged Nicolay’s Robbery victory over Larry Donald, and gave it to Valuev by the widest margin of the disgraceful evening. Although not invited back for some time, rather than ensure that Shimakawa would no longer be judging bouts of such a magnitude, Takeshi’s performance in his previous appearance didn’t hamper his prospects of judging important matches at all…rather, he was selected for Ruiz-Valuev II.

Ove Ovesen had judged 3 Nicolay Valuev contests prior to Ruiz-Valuev II. 3 of the fights occurred in 2005 in Germany with the last one being the Larry Donald robbery, which Ovesen gave to Valuev by 2 points. If there was any fight that a sensible sanctioning body would want to keep these two judges (Shimakawa and Ovesen) away from, one would figure that fight is any with Nicolay Valuev participating. Most certainly one with Nicolay Valuev competing for a championship. Beyond a shadow of a doubt the fight that these two proved they should have nothing to do with by their actions in previous assignments, is one that is all but guaranteed to come down to a controversial decision. Good ‘ol WBA. Judge Requena must have been respected and upstanding enough to justify the assignment of the entire trio.

Though I’m sure if one were to ask the judges, they’ve probably never met one another before…probably don’t know the promoters…and probably don’t know who made their arrangements. Ask them in the wrong tone, and they probably won’t even recall who assigned them to judge the fight.

When Valuev faced Ruiz for the second time the decision was indeed controversial, with at least one of the 3 blind mice documented as not knowing how to keep score, following an incorrect reading or completion of the score card. Of course the decision was disputed, and that decision again favored Nicolay Valuev. Valuev UD12 Ruiz.

Even though Nicolay Valuev and John Ruiz may not have settled once and for all who is the better “boxer.” They did establish who is the more favored by judges in the latter half of this decade, something that is obviously much more important than actual boxing talent when discussing the careers of two of the sport’s most infamous champions. Nicolay Valuev followed up his “triumph” over Ruiz with a bout that his ever honest promoters and management swore they were not seeking and wanted no part of, a WBA “Regular Title” defense against the legendary but faded Evander Holyfield.

The Holyfield travesty is the most documented of the Valuev robberies, with nearly every credible source that covers boxing weighing in on the infamous evening in a vocal and matter of fact way. Evander Holyfield won the fight by a very large margin, with those looking to give Valuev rounds forced to stop counting at 3. Other common scores had Holyfield winning all but one, and all but two rounds. When Nicolay Valuev, in anticipation of the predetermined outcome being read to the crowd following the final bell, he raised his hand in “victory,” the good European people in attendance vocally informed him that he had earned nothing…with a resounding chorus of boos. Valuev MD12 Holyfield.

As mentioned previously, this weekend Nicolay Valuev will face Ruslan Chagaev, with the WBA promising a unified champion in their organization. I am not going to bore anyone with an analysis of a Valuev fight, there is no point (although an analysis of the weekend’s judges may be more appropriate and timely). All Chagaev has to do is stay out of range, get inside, strike, and get back out of range. Review the Holyfield match for the blueprint on how to shut out this reject form central casting.

While I have the readers attention though, I would only ask that those who love the sport would begin to speak out like never before. Do not wait for those in power to turn themselves in and give up the hustle, it will never happen. Instead allow outrage to motivate action, and commit yourself to letting as many people who may care within the sport (and maybe even some who don’t) that you are not fooled by, and that you intend to protest against all forms of corruption currently harming the sport of boxing. The Title Reign of Nicolay Valuev is a picture perfect and living representation of that corruption. The boxing world, and those who love it have had enough of this fraud, and the chicanery that spawned him.

Levi Martinez. Daniel Talon. Erkki Meronen.

These are the three officials chosen to judge Saturday’s contest. While I am not here to suggest that their decision has already been bought. I am only interested in holding them to the standard of the calling that they have accepted. It is a noble and virtuous calling, even if the call is often answered by those void of the qualities which should be prerequisites for the office of judge.

Honesty. Integrity.Truth. While judging may be considered largely subjective, the three virtues named here are not.

I am expecting the three men named to do their job correctly, no matter how against the grain that task may be when judging a Valuev fight. In anticipation of the fine and honorable job to be done by the trio, OnThEGRiND BoXiNG have already secured their contact information, and intend to thank them in writing for their integrity following the bout.

I ask that all would do the same.

UPDATE - The WBA Heavyweight Championship bout scheduled to take place Saturday in Germany, that erroneously promised to crown an undisputed champion has been scrapped. Early reports indicate that Ruslan Chagaev is not medically fit to fight. Lamon Brewster and Mandatory Challenger Kali Meehan have agreed to fight, however Team Valuev (including Sauerland & King) looks to be aiming toward having Chagaev stripped, and having Valuev crowned “undisputed champion” without fighting anyone. John Ruiz is also in the mix pushing for his right to face Valeuv. The WBA = World’s Biggest Asses.

Read The WBA Loves You Boxing Fan Part I…John Ruiz here.