Nikolai Valuev (46-0, 34 KOs), the so far undefeated WBA heavyweight champion, he predicting that his first mandatory defence against Ruslan Chagaev (22-0-1, 17 KOs) will be business as usual.
The pair are set to clash on the 14th April in Stuttgart, Germany and Valuev said:
“The fight will be no different from my other bouts,”
“The fact that it will be my first mandatory boxing defence does not make a difference at all. I take him very seriously. I´ve been in training for weeks.”
Valuev flew from St. Petersburg to Berlin last Sunday in order to continue his boxing training in the Max-Schmeling-Gym.
“Together with my coach Manuel Gabrielian I have been watching tapes of Chagaev every day in order to work out the strategy for the fight,”
“However, I can´t say anything else about my tactics or my opponent since he is sitting right next to me right now.”
Chagaev’s boxing team was also remaining tight lipped on their strategy to try and defeat the massive Valuev, who has an 11 inch height advantage. But the Uzbek boxer is confident that he will make a successful challenge come the fight night:
“This is the biggest fight of my life,” he said. “To have the chance and fight for the world title is the highlight of my career. I will do all I can to make the most of it. I have been working out very well and will be in top shape on April 14.”
If you want to see this heavyweight showdown then tickets go on sale this Friday and you can buy them for as little as 35 Euros from www.boxen.com By the way this site is all in German so you may have a tough time translating it…
What do you think the outcome of the fight will be?
I would probably back Valuev to win, purely on his huge height advantage, plus his outstanding record. Chagaev will have to do something very special in order to overcome this giant, but I am not sure that he will.
After this fight I would like to see Valuev take on some harder fights, after this mandatory challenge. I would like to see him fight Klitschko, Shannon Briggs, Oleg Maskaev or Samuel Peters as these are the other title holders and prominent heavyweights in the division.
Who do you think he should fight next?
