By Erik Schmidt: With both fighters professing to have made great changes to their style of fighting, both weighed in on Friday for their bout for the vacant World Boxing Association heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany. The second foot Valuev weighed in at 317.7, while the shorter 6’2″ Ruiz weighed 238.9, 78 pounds lighter than the Russian giant. However, in their first fight in December 2005, Valuev outweighed Ruiz by 87 lbs, so this is hardly a new experience for Ruiz.
As for what Valuev’s secret plan for defeating Ruiz, expect Valuev to put more pressure on him, hoping to where the shorter fighter out with shots. In the last fight, Ruiz was allowed to dictate the distance of the fight, in which he constantly moved in and out of range, hitting Valuev when he pleased. Valuev did well under the circumstances, and was able to nail Ruiz often both coming and going, as well as at a distance. However, Ruiz proved effective at coming in quickly for furious exchanges with the much slower Valuev, hitting him cleanly quite often. It’s unclear what could have changed since then for Valuev, because he’s now three years older and probably even slower than he was back then.
By Chris Williams: Former two-time heavyweight champion John Ruiz (43-7-1, 29 KOs) and former World Boxing Association champion Nikolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) go at for the vacant WBA heavyweight belt this Saturday night in a 12-round title bout at the Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany. The winner, unfortunately, has to fight the champion in recess Ruslan Chagaev who twice previously has had to postpone title bouts against Valuev, once for an illness and another title due to a torn Achilles tendon of Chagaev’s left ankle. Like the often injury-plagued Vitali Klitschko, it will be interesting to see if Chagaev makes into a title bout against the winner of Ruiz-Valuev without getting injured or sick once again. 
By Scott Gilfoid: With his new offensive style, former heavyweight champion John Ruiz (43-7, 29 KOs) hopes to recapture his WBA heavyweight championship on August 30th against 300 lb, seven-foot giant Nikolai Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) at the Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany. The two fighters will be battling it out for the vacant WBA title, which was made possible after WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev sustained an injury, preventing him from defending his title against mandatory challenger Valuev. This was the second cancellation for a title defense for Chagaev, and instead of being stripped of his title, the WBA allowed Valuev and Ruiz to fight it out for the vacant title, with the winner to fight to the champion in recess Chagaev, if he’s able to make it into the ring without being ill or injured yet again. 
By Jim Dower: Former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) will be trying to recapture his title when he goes up against his old nemesis John Ruiz (43-7, 29 KOs) late on this month on August 30th, at the Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany. Valuev, 34, previously defeated Ruiz in a close 12-round majority decision to take his title three years ago in Berlin. Now he’ll be attempting to repeat the act with another victory over the 36 year-old Ruiz, who himself is coming off two impressive victories over Otis Tisdale and 6’6″ journeyman Jameel McCline, and has looked sharp in both fights.
By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBA heavyweight champions John Ruiz (43-7-1, 29 KOs) and Nikolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) will fight for the vacant WBA heavyweight title on August 30th at Max Schmeling Halle, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany. The title was vacated by WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev who has been struck down several times with serious illnesses and injuries causing him to cancel two title defenses and a planned unification bout. Chagaev’s latest medical problem, a tear of his Achilles tendon, caused a second cancellation of his title defense against Valuev which had been previously scheduled for July 5th. 
By Erik Schmidt: The WBA has come out today with announcement giving their undefeated heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KOs) until June 26th 2009 to heal from his injuries and make a title defense against his number #1 challenger Nikolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs). Last month, Chagaev, 29, suffered a tear in his left Achilles tendon, making it necessary for him to cancel his bout with Valuev. This was the second cancellation with Valuev, and the third overall for Chagaev since winning the WBA heavyweight title in April of 2007 with a 12-round majority decision victory over Valuev. 
By Dan Ambrose: Mammoth heavyweight Jameel McCline (38-9-3, 23 KOs) continued with his recent spate of bad luck tonight, losing by a lopsided 12-round unanimous decision in a WBC title eliminator. The bout was highly dull, with both fighters spending extended periods wrestling on the inside with one another. As usual, Ruiz, 36, was the superior inside fighter, and easily dominated the slower, 6’6” 268 lb. lumbering McCline. The final judges’ scores were 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111.
One time heavyweight champion John Ruiz (42-7-1, 29 KOs) won an impressive two round knockout over Otis Tisdale on Saturday night at the Sears Centre, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Ruiz, ranked #3 in the WBA, showing a new offensive-minded fighting style – minus his usual clinching – knocked Tisdale down twice in the first round and once in the 2nd, before the referee Pete Podgorsk moved in and stopped the bout at 0:45 of the 2nd round. Ruiz, 35, was all action in the bout, using massive uppercuts, hooks, movement and a powerful right hand to control virtually every second of the bout with the out-gunned Tisdale.