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.