Some say that it is Valuev who could become a truly serious opponent for the Klitschko brothers. They say Ukrainian boxers have never fought opponents taller and more powerful than themselves, but the Russian, who is 2.15 m tall and weighs 151 kg (can you imagine this hulk?), is made of different stuff. Others argue that even Valuev's gigantic strength will not help him compensate for the lack of boxing skill, which the brothers have in abundance. But the latter thought does not take into account the fact that Nikolai, who switched to boxing late, is constantly learning and continues to progress. At what stage he will stop, no one can say. And whether he will stop at all.
In the spring, the very colorful Valuev topped the WBA rankings. For the first time in the history of professional boxing, a Russian took first place in the list of the strongest heavyweights and became the official contender for a world championship fight against Puerto Rican John Ruiz, who will have to make a mandatory title defense.
Valuev's manager, the German Wilfried Sauerland, said he would make every effort to ensure that the fight between Valuev and Ruiz takes place this year. Valuev, who currently holds the WBA Intercontinental champion title, has no defeats - 43 wins (32 by knockout). So, who is he, the Russian phenomenon nicknamed the Rock and the Beast from the East? Let us give the floor to Nikolai himself and provide data from Valuev's official website.
“I was born in Leningrad on August 21, 1973, at 10 in the morning. When weighed, I tipped the scales at 3 kg 200 g. Height - 51 cm. By the way, my son Grisha was born larger than his dad. When weighed, he outweighed me by half a kilo, and in height he surpassed me by 2 cm.
In kindergarten, I was already a head taller than the tallest kids. In the first grade, I was as tall as the teacher. Everyone thought I had been held back a grade. True, the teacher was not very tall, but our same height impressed everyone. My parents were not of large build either. Mom is only 2 cm shorter than dad, and he was 1.68 m tall. The genes, apparently, passed to me from my giant great-grandfather, he was over two meters tall. Unfortunately, all family photographs burned during the siege of Leningrad.
In my childhood, like all boys, I played football. In winter we played hockey. For that we even made a skating rink in the yard ourselves. All games were very hard for me. I simply could not keep up with my peers. They were quicker than me. In summer we spent whole days at the lake and rode bicycles. At the lake I especially loved to spend time fishing, to which my father introduced me as early as kindergarten. He was an avid fisherman. At school, in the fifth grade, I took up basketball. Later I transferred to the sports boarding school No. 1 of the city of Leningrad. As part of the Frunzenskaya Youth Sports School team, I became the national champion in basketball among junior boys.
While studying at the same boarding school, I took up track and field and devoted six years to this sport. I was very interested in throwing, namely the discus. I trained at the school of V. A. Alekseev, who founded his famous sports academy in Leningrad. By the way, when I am in St. Petersburg, I train at that very school. It has everything for a full workout. Every time I come into this hall, I feel at home. I started my track and field training with more than modest results. But gradually things got going, and eventually I even threw the discus to the Master of Sports standard.
I decided to take up boxing rather late - at 20 years old. I came to my first training session in the spring of 1993. It was very difficult to learn completely unfamiliar skills at such an age. Everything was new: running, jumping rope, working in the ring with a sparring partner, practicing punching technique on bags, shadowboxing. My first coach, later manager and promoter, was Oleg Shalaev. In his time, he fought many bouts in Germany. For his fighting style, the Germans nicknamed him Pitbull. I made my first steps in boxing under his guidance.
My ring debut took place on October 15, 1993, in Berlin. On that day I fought American John Morton. I won by knockout in the second round. We did not treat this fight as a professional debut, and later I competed in the amateur ring. At the championship of my native city, I took second place. After several competitions, I boxed at the 1994 Russian Championship, which was held in St. Petersburg, and became a silver medalist, thereby fulfilling the Master of Sports standard. As part of the Russian national team, I competed that same year at the Goodwill Games. There I was noticed by an international commission, which disqualified me. It turned out that my first fight in Berlin was recognized as professional. So, by fate's will, I had to take up professional boxing in earnest.
Thanks to boxing, I traveled all over the world. I boxed in Australia, Japan, South Korea, the USA, the Czech Republic, Germany, Ukraine, and Belarus. But I celebrated my first significant victory at home. In 1999, in my native city, I became the champion of Russia. The following year, I won the world champion title according to the Pan-Asian Boxing Association. Subsequently, I defended this title five times.
Since 2000, I have been trained by the Honored Coach of Armenia, Manvel Oganesovich Gabrielyan. In 2004, we managed to win the Intercontinental world champion title according to the World Boxing Association (WBA). Now all our dreams and efforts are aimed at winning the world champion title in one of the prestigious versions.
I am married. I met my future wife at a friend's birthday party. Over time, our relationship grew into a great feeling, as evidenced by our son Grishka. Time tested Galya and me in every way. So our union can only be called fate. We live in St. Petersburg.”
The story of Valuev’s marriage is curious. As often happens, Nikolai met his future wife at a friend’s birthday party: “We exchanged phone numbers, then took a closer look at each other for two years, and in 2000 we got married. At the time of the wedding, I knew for sure that I loved this woman, would carry her in my arms, she would give me children and be a good mother to them. When Grishka was born, I became convinced once again that I was right. My wife once admitted that she was impressed by my size. She suffers from ‘gigantism,’ she likes everything big. A big husband, a big car, the apartment must be huge...”
Galina says that her friends, knowing her desire to meet a large man, seated her at a table next to Nikolai at one of the parties: “I never received a marriage proposal as such. One evening Nikolai and my dad got into a conversation. I hear talk about some wedding. They, it turns out, had already decided everything for me and were only arguing about the timing.”
“In the past year I spend a lot of time in Germany, especially in Berlin,” says Valuev. “In 2004 I signed a contract with the well-known German promoter Wilfried Sauerland. In my free time I try to learn more about Berlin, its surroundings, people, and Germany in general. I have started studying German. Of course, I don’t forget about St. Petersburg. I keep in daily contact with my family and friends. Thanks to them I am up to date on all the latest news. I will always be interested in what happens in Russia and in my home city.”
Today Valuev is of interest to very many people (and how could it be otherwise with such physical attributes?). But journalists, for all their desire, cannot dig up any “sensational” facts. The Russian leads a calm and measured lifestyle, and the biggest scandalous stories connected with his name happened a couple of years ago.
In 2002, without any grounds, Nikolai was lowered in the rankings of one of the three prestigious international associations – the WBA, and soon the two-meter giant learned that the Russian Professional Boxing Federation had stripped him of the national champion title. “The federation had no right to strip me of this title. And as a sign of protest, my promoter Oleg Shalaev and I left the federation. It seems to me that I did nothing to deserve such treatment,” believes Nikolai Valuev. “There is a behind-the-scenes game going on. The federation leaders were in favor of us going abroad and least wanted to help us develop in Russia.”
And in August 2003, an attempt was made on the life of Nikolai Valuev’s promoter in St. Petersburg. An unknown person fired three shots at Oleg Shalaev. The latter survived, but soon parted ways with Valuev, who moved under the wing of the well-known German manager Wilfried Sauerland. Perhaps the split occurred because of the failed fight between Valuev and the famous former world champion Mike Tyson, which Shalaev had promised to arrange. Nikolai is completely satisfied with his cooperation with the authoritative German, who also works with the Klitschko brothers: “There are many positive changes – my rating has risen significantly, and my opponents have become boxers I never even dreamed of fighting. I believe that thanks to Sauerland, my boxing career has taken off.”
Valuev has been fighting in Germany for several years now, but he is in no hurry to move to that country. He says he sees no point in it: “Only the need to spend more time in the country could push me to move. But right now, why? I can train with equal success in Russia or Armenia. But before a fight, about a month beforehand, my trainer and I come to Germany for sparring preparation. At the same time, there is communication with the media. That is exactly why my presence in Germany is required. The family usually stays in St. Petersburg. I miss them very much. Especially since my son Grishka is growing up, and communicating with him is becoming more and more interesting. I call home every day, and it turns out as if I never left, but am at regular training camp.”
During preparation for fights (that is, while in Germany), the Russian boxer carefully saves time, focusing on training: “We have even given up going to restaurants. Our apartment has a kitchen where we can cook simple but tasty food. And I devote the freed-up time to German lessons, rest, or reading books.
Success in learning the language? I took it up in depth relatively recently – two years or a year and a half ago. I don’t know how quickly, but I hope I will learn it. Compared to Russian, German has incomprehensible elements. Take, for example, the verb sein (to be). In different tenses it has completely different roots, not like ours: byl – budu (was – will be). In German, there seems to have been a word, but in fact nothing remains of it. It is impossible to approach learning German from the point of view of Russian logic, and at school I studied French. So far I have not managed to properly learn any foreign language. Maybe I’ll get lucky with German. I am helped by a German woman who knows Russian. I study whenever possible without harming boxing. For example, today there was a lesson, tomorrow the teacher will come again, then the day after. Studying German every day – my head swells.
How do I relax? Books, lessons, and I also watch a bit of TV. Mostly educational programs like “Planet of Animals,” as well as films and news on CNN.” The boxer’s interest in the animal world is not accidental – he is an avid hunter.
And Valuev is also a bit of an actor. He enters the ring without bending between the ropes, but simply swinging his leg over them. They say it’s better not to look at the faces of opponents at that moment. Just as during the traditional weigh-in before a fight.
Just recently, Valuev felled a generally decent boxer in the ring - Clifford Etienne. After the fight, the loser expressed his feelings quite emotionally: "Who says Nikolai punches weakly? Did I really fall for no reason? I fell from the blows of a man who doesn't know how to hit? Maybe he used to punch weakly, but now he punches very hard. Both with the right and the left. It's simply awful. Do you know where your eyes pop out from after his punches? You don't know? Better not to know. I'm just a hero for even going up against him. I only lose to the very best. So now I've lost to Valuev. It doesn't hurt, because this guy has everything it takes to become world champion. Does he sometimes take punches? And who never takes punches? But he stands like a rock!"