Nikolai Valuev is a former Russian professional boxer.
Valuev is a former two-time WBA world heavyweight boxing champion, and the current record holder
as the largest boxer ever to win a world title.
Valuev's world title fight records stands at 8 wins and 2 losses.
He holds notable wins over John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield.
Valuev officially retired from boxing at the age of 36, following a majority decision loss
to David Haye in November 2009.
Biography Valuev was born on 21 August 1973, in Leningrad,
Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.
He also had a Tatar grandfather.
He has three young children, daughter Irina and son Grisha, his third child, son Sergei,
was born on 30 July 2012.
In his professional boxing career Valuev has been defeated only twice by Ruslan Chagaev
and David Haye.
Valuev is a Russian Orthodox Christian.
During his youth he played water polo and basketball.
Valuev has written a book in Russian called My 12 Rounds, with the help of prominent Russian
sports journalist Konstantin Osipov.
The book discusses his life in general and his boxing career in particular.
For that book, Valuev received an award from the government of St. Petersburg.
The book was presented in St. Petersburg on 5 February 2007.
In January 2006 Valuev was accused of assaulting a security guard at the Spartak Ice Palace
in St. Petersburg, Russia.
No criminal investigation was ever launched by local police.
Boxing career First reign as WBA champion
In 2005, Valuev squared off with WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz, and won a twelve-round
majority-decision, becoming both the tallest and heaviest champion in boxing history.
In his first defence he defeated challenger Owen Beck by a third-round technical knockout
in Hannover, Germany.
In October 2006, Valuev fought Monte Barrett and defeated him with a technical knockout
in the 11th round.
In January 2007, Valuev fought Jameel McCline in St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland.
Valuev won the match, successfully defending his title, after McCline was not able to continue
the bout after injuring his knee when throwing a punch near the end of the 3rd round.
Loss of WBA title to Chagaev The title defence was held on 14 April 2007.
Chagaev defeated Valuev by a majority decision.
Valuev changed trainers, from Manuel Gabrielian to Alexander Zimin, who coached the old Soviet
Union amateur boxing team.
On 29 September 2007, Valuev won against Jean-Francois Bergeron in Oldenburg, Germany, by a 12-round
unanimous decision.
Second reign as WBA champion In a 16 February 2008, title eliminator, Valuev
defeated former titleholder Sergei Liakhovich from Belarus, winning every round at the Nuremberg
Arena in Germany.
The victory earned Valuev the right to face Chagaev for the WBA title again, the only
man who had defeated him in his boxing career.
He was scheduled to face Chagaev for his WBA title on 5 July 2008, but Chagaev pulled out
with an injury.
Valuev instead fought John Ruiz for the vacant title on 30 August 2008 and the WBA decided
to make Chagaev "Champion In Recess".
Valuev defeated Ruiz by unanimous decision to regain the WBA heavyweight championship,
with Valuev and Chagaev set to fight no later than 26 June 2009 to determine whom the WBA
regarded as their champion.
Their scheduled rematch on 30 May 2009 was cancelled due to Chagaev's viral infection
and on 24 July 2009, when the WBA published their Official Ratings as of June 2009, Chagaev
was no longer the "Champion In Recess" but the No. 1 challenger instead.
Valuev's first title defence of his second reign as WBA Champion was against the 46-year
old, four-time heavyweight champion of the world, Evander Holyfield, on 20 December 2008.
Before the match, Valuev weighed 310.8 pounds, nearly 100 pounds heavier than Holyfield at
214.3 pounds.
After a rather uneventful match with no knockdowns and few punches thrown by either fighter,
Valuev won a widely disputed majority decision.
In response to the controversial result The WBA announced plans to investigate the decision.
Loss of WBA title to Haye In his second defence, Valuev lost his title
on 7 November 2009 against former unified and lineal cruiserweight champion David Haye
in Nuremberg on points.
Retirement from boxing and health problems Valuev announced his retirement from boxing
in a Russian newspaper three days after the loss to Haye on 10 November 2009.
In 2010, Valuev's doctor went on record saying that he is treating Valuev for "serious bone
and joint problems".
Valuev underwent two operations that required at least six months on the sidelines.
Valuev confirmed in 2013 that medical advice was one of the reasons he is not planning
to make a comeback in boxing.
Acting career and advertising Valuev's first role in a film was a cameo
appearance in the German film 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug in 2006.
In 2008 Valuev played the main role in the film Stonehead by Philip Yankovskiy, playing
an ex-boxer who lost his memory.
The film took the main prize at the film festival "Window to Europe".
After the success of Stonehead, it was announced Valuev is being filmed in two new films at
the same time.
Nikolai Valuev has participated in several photo and video advertisements of various
products and services.
In November 2009 he signed a promotional contract with a German sausage manufacturer, making
Valuev the face of the company's advertisement campaign for five years.
Nikolai Valuev is also planning to open a family restaurant in Germany.
In August 2010, Valuev signed a promotional contract with Pokerstars poker portal, which
is going to achieve professional success in this game.
Valuev's distinctive appearance and fame have occasionally attracted the use of his images
in advertising without his permission.
In particular, the Penza theatre "Contemporary" for some time before the movie showing the
film, where Nikolai Valuev acts as a man who punishes the audience disturbing others.
Nikolai Valuev, upon learning about this, sued the theatre for damages amounting to
2 million rubles.
In 2011, Nikolai Valuev is involved in the advertising power of "Interskol" as well as
in advertising MTS.
Political career In December 2011 Russian parliamentary election
he became a member of Duma through the United Russia Party.
On 17 December 2012, Valuev supported the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption
of Russian orphans by citizens of the US.
Involvement in other sports In 2011, Valuev became the General Manager
of Russia national bandy team and he also has as a task to develop the so-called Russian
hockey in the country.
He is also the Vice-President of the All Russian Bandy Federation[2].
Bandy is considered a national sport in Russia.
Nikolai Valuev Boxing School In 2009, Nikolai Valuev, together with a group
of coaches, created "Nikolay Valuev Boxing School" with offices in St. Petersburg and
the Leningrad Oblast.
The school is based on three types of age groups: pupils, students and adults.
School pupils participate and compete in various boxing matches, including the "Valuev Cup"
youth boxing tournament, which became a regular competition in St. Petersburg.
Valuev Youth Sports Foundation The Valuev Foundation was opened on 13 September
2010.
The fund was established to promote regular physical exercise among young people to enable
children of different social backgrounds play sports, to further their education and strengthen
the principles of sport, as well as spread the ideals of sports into other areas.
Filmography 2001 - The town, Issue № 89
2003 - Playing without rules - cameo 2006 - 7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug
- cameo 2008 - Rock Head - Yegor Golovin "Rock Head"
2009 - Path - a prisoner nicknamed "The Beast" 2009 - Fight without rules - Nicholas Shafts
2011 - Antique Watches - cameo 2013 - Bigfoot Files - Himself
Professional boxing record References
External links Professional boxing record for Nikolai Valuev
from BoxRec Valuev interview
Valuev interview (German) Personal page from promoter
(Russian) Official personal site Boxing-Encyclopedia