by traffic » Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:44 am
STUTTGART, Germany (AP) - Ruslan Chagaev won the WBA heavyweight boxing title from Nikolai Valuev with a majority decision on Saturday.
The taller and heavier Valuev lost the championship in his fourth defense since winning the belt 16 months ago.
The judges ruled for Chagaev 117-111 and 115-113, while the third called it 114-114.
Valuev's record dropped to 46-1 with a no decision, ending his bid to break Rocky Marciano's record of 49-0 without a defeat.
The Russian blamed the loss on his legs.
"Today I made a lot of mistakes and Ruslan was a few points ahead," Valuev said. "My biggest mistake was the stamina in my legs was not good."
Chagaev, the Uzbekistan fighter who calls himself "White Tyson," gave away 28 centimeters (11 inches) and 44 kilos (90 pounds) to the 2.13-meter (7-foot) Valuev.
But in the fourth round, he solved Valuev's jab which had kept him at bay. After that, the fight turned into a slugfest, the kind Chagaev - a fighter who throws a lot of punches - wanted.
"For everybody who said Nikolai was too big and heavy for me, well its not important that I am smaller now, is it?" Chagaev said.
The 28-year-old, a former amateur world champion, ran his record to 23-0-1 with 17 knockouts.
Valuev won his previous title defenses outjabbing smaller opponents but Chagaev lunged inside and caught Valuev with a left and short right to the temple in the fourth round and grew bolder.
He won the next three rounds the same way before 33-year-old Valuev hit him with several quick shots to take the eighth.
The pair stood toe-to-toe in the 12th, bringing the 6,800 spectators to their feet. Valuev took a hard left just before the bell.
"He did us a favor tonight and attacked Ruslan," Chagaev trainer Michael Timm. "We disciplined Ruslan for 12 rounds, telling him he had to make Valuev attack and he would counter."
Chagaev used unorthodox methods to get a feel for Valuev's size, including trainer Michael Timm standing on a box during training.
"I know a thing or two about beating bigger favored opponents," Chagaev said.
As an amateur, he was one of the few to beat Cuban great Felix Savon, a 1.98 meter (6-5) fighter. He was named the No. 1 WBA mandatory challenger after a November split decision win against former champ John Ruiz.
But Chagaev came into the fight a heavy underdog against the Russian.
"It was a great, great fight - better than anyone expected," said Don King, Valuev's promoter.