By Manuel Perez: With only a week to go before the heavyweight showdown between former champions Serguei Lyakhovich (23-2, 14 KOs) and Nikolay Valuev (47-1, 34 KOs) on February 16th, at the Nuernberg Arena, in Nuremberg, Bayern, Germany, one would have to wonder whether Lyakhovich is serving his own best interest by having seemingly rushed into the fight with Valuev, 34, without having fought at least one tune-up bout before the fight.
In case anyone may have forgot, Lyakhovich last fought over a year ago, losing his World Boxing Organization heavyweight title by 12 round TKO to Shannon Briggs on November 4, 2006, a bout that Lyakhovich was leading on cards going into the 12th round when disaster struck. Since that time, Lyakhovich has been inactive, and many boxing fans are wondering whether it was the wisest thing for him to take on a fighter as good as Valuev without at least one fight in between that time. Of course, there are some fighters that say that just by sparring in the gym, they’re able to mimic the same effects as participating in a live fight.
Other fighters, however, say just the opposite, pointing out the need for a fighter to stay busy in the ring, trying to fight at least every 4-6 months to stay at the top of their game. The time away from the ring is one thing, but what we don’t necessarily know in Lyakhovich’s case is whether he was even training during that time. If he was just sitting around doing nothing, then he may be in for big problems come February 16th, because Valuev is a fighter that will give most of the top heavyweights problems due to his size alone.
To be sure, all of Lyakhovich’s best weapons, his jab, and hook and overhand right will likely be neutralized by Valuev, who with his monstrous size, he’ll be able to land first against the smaller Lyakhovich. In perhaps his best fight of his career, Lyakhovich was able to use his jab and pile up points on Lamon Brewster, punishing him from both the outside and inside. However, Valuev, it would seem, is going to be a huge obstacle for Lyakhovich, especially considering Serguei’s long layoff from the ring.
The winner of this fight becomes the mandatory for WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev, who Valuev was previously beaten by, losing a controversial majority decision on April 14th, 2007. In the process of losing the fight, Valuev also lost his WBA title, along with the chance of edging closer to Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0. From the my point of view, it seemed as if Valuev easily won the fight, as Chagaev did little other than land an occasional punch. Most of his other punches were either blocked or missed their mark.
To his credit, Valuev hasn’t let the loss get him down, quickly moving on with the goal in mind to recapture the title. In his most recent bout, he defeated Jean-Francois Bergeron by a 12-round unanimous decision on September 29, 2007. The bout was pretty much one-sided, though Bergeron was able to land a handful of punches in the later rounds, but not nearly enough to make the fight close.