Nikolai Valuev

By Jim Dower: For the third time since winning the WBA heavyweight title by controversial fashion with a 12-round split decision over Nikolay Valuev last April, undefeated heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (24-0, 17 KOs) has been forced to cancel one of his title defenses, this time to former champion Valuev (48-1, 24 KOs), who Chagaev had been scheduled to fight next month on July 5th. Earlier today, while conducting sparring in preparation for his bout in July, Chagaev tore his Achilles tendon in his left foot. The injury will require surgery for it to be healed, which will put Chagaev out of action for another extended amount of time, likely until the end of the year.

Valuev, the number # 1 challenger in the WBA, has no other choice but to wait for Chagaev’s injury to heal. This was the second time that Valuev has been forced to wait on Chagaev, who canceled an earlier title defense to Valuev set for May 31st due to a viral infection that Chagaev suffered. Last year, in October, Chagaev had been scheduled to fight a unification bout with then WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov, but Chagaev had to back out due to another viral infection. One has to feel a little sorry for Valuev, 34, who lost his title to Chagaev last April despite out-landing him in the fight by a sizable margin. Since losing his title, he’s beaten two fighters, Jean Francois Bergeron and most recently former WBO heavyweight champion Serguei Lyakhovich in February.

By William MacKay: Former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) will be looking to avenge his only defeat on his record when he goes up against undefeated WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KOs) on July 5th, at the Gerry Weber Statdium, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Valuev and Chagaev were previously scheduled to fight on May 31st, but Chagaev was struck ill with a nasty viral infection involving his upper respiratory tract.

Valuev, 34, lost his title to Chagaev in a closely contested majority decision loss in April 2007, a bout in which Chagaev hardly proved himself to have done enough to have taken the title from the 7’0” 320 lb Valuev. There had been hopes immediately after that fight that Chagaev would give Valuev an immediate rematch, giving him a shot at regaining his title. However, Chagaev instead opted to take an easy fight against British heavyweight Matt Skelton, whom he beat by a dull 12-round unanimous decision victory in January. Previous to that, Chagaev had hoped to meet up with then WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov in what would have been a unification bout scheduled for October 13th, in Moscow, Russia, but that fight fell through when Chagaev again became ill and had to cancel the fight.

By Erik Schmidt: For the second time since winning his WBA title in April 2007, heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 KOs) has been forced to pull out of a bout due to a virus. His opponent, former WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs) will be forced to wait a little longer, perhaps a lot longer while Chagaev attempts to defeat this lingering virus. Since winning the WBA title by a controversial majority decision over Valuev in 2006, Chagaev has only defended it a paltry one time over Matt Skelton in on January 19th.

Chagaev, 29, had previously been forced to pull out of a title unification bout with Sultan Ibragimov in October 1997 for the same reason, knocked out due to a virus problem. At this stage, Chagaev is catching up to former WBC champion Vitali Klitschko, who cancelled title defenses to Hasim Rahman countless times due to nagging injuries.

By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev (24-0, 17 KOs) will finally be giving a rematch to former champion Nikolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KOs), whom he beat by a majority decision on April 14th 2007. The rematch long awaited by Valuev, will be taking place on May 31st at the Arena Oberhausen, Oberhausen, in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. In their prior fight, Chagaev did little to distinguish himself as the victor in the fight as he defensively, mostly staying on the outside and when he would attempt to land punches, they would come up short and land on Valuev’s chest or gloves.

Only rarely did the short, 6’ foot Chagaev even reach Valuev’s head. Rather than give Valuev a much needed rematch so as to distinguish who the real better fighter is between them, Skelton cooled his heals doing little for nine months until finally defending his title against Max Skelton in January 2008. Chagaev fought poorly against Skelton, clinching often and looking slow and out of shape. The fight resembled more of a tough man contest than a professional title match.