Chagaev, who was giving away 11 inches and 90 pounds to the seven-foot WBA champion, boxed a brilliant and courageous fight, using quicker hand speed and sensational movement to thoroughly confuse and dominate Valuev.

 

The three judges scored it 114-114, 115-113, and 117-111, a majority decision for the 28-year-old Chagaev. Pound4Pound scored the fight 117-111 for Chagaev.

 

In losing for the first time in his career, Valuev (46-1) was givin a boxing clinic by Chagaev (22-0-1), a legendary amateur fighter with an 85-3 record, a record that included two victories over Cuban legend Felix Savon, a three-time Olympic gold medalist.

 

Right from the start, it was obvious what the southpaw Chagaev’s strategy would be, and equally obviously that Valuev was going to have a tough time getting into any kind of rhythm against the rugged native of Uzbekistan, who has a rock-solid chin.

 

Constantly circling, showing angles, Chagaev forced Valuev into stalking him around the ring. When Chagaev saw an opening, he would take an ineffective jab from Valuev and immediately counter with a savage left hook to the head, or a lunging straight left to the chest and stomach of the bigger man.

 

A deft counter puncher, Chagaev actually was the aggressor in the fight because he simply threw and landed far more effective punches and combinations. Valuev kept coming forward, jabbing with surprisingly little power, as if waiting to throw that one big right hand. Clearly, if it went to the scorecards, it would come down to what the judges valued more, Valuev’s perceived aggression, or Chagaev’s effective aggression.

 

By the fourth round, both fighters looked a bit winded in their corners – Valuev from chasing the hit-and-run specialist, and Chagaev from being in perpetual motion.

 

Several times early in the fight, Chagaev beautifully would feint an inside body attack, then holster his gloves and move away. The effect was to keep Valuev off balance, and also to reveal how the champion would deal with an inside attack, so that when Chagaev did throw hard lefts inside to the chest and stomach, he knew what to expect in return from Valuev – and always countered with a swift left hook.

 

The biggest surprise to the crowd is that when Valuev did connect with a hard right, it seemed to have no effect on Chagaev, who not once was shaken or drive back.

 

From the outset, Valuev would throw one punch at a time, rarely combos, undoubtedly because after his first punch, Chagaev either punished him with a left hook, or was no longer in the same place he was before, having danced away. As the fight went into the later rounds, Valuev’s corner began going ballistic, urging him to be more aggressive and throw combos.

 

By the 9^th round, Chagaev began to show some signs of tiring from the constant movement, and got caught on the rope a few times, allowing Valuev to throw some combos. But none of them were effective, and always brought painful revenge from Chagaev’s counter hooks.

 

As he tired in the later rounds, Chagaev became more reckless and bold, attacking inside without waiting to counter. He took some hits doing that, but gave much better than he got.   Chagaev was especially effective at stealing close rounds by landing hard combos in the final 10 seconds. When the final bell sounded in the Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Germany, Chagaev fell to his knees on the canvas in joy and exhaustion, then got to his feet and jumped up and down, sure that he had won the fight – a risky thing to do when you are in Germany.   But the crowd at the arena, which clearly favored Valuev at the start, came around like in a Rocky film to the smaller man and cheered him loudly on their feet as Chagaev stood on the ropes and blew kisses.

 

The camera oddly enough stayed locked on Chagaev, obviously perceiving him as the winner, and took several minutes before even showing a shot of the fallen giant who had been slain by the stones in the challenger’s left fist. Valuev looked like a beaten man, and when he tried to raise his arms high in a forced gesture of victory, a stunning chorus of boos rang out in the country that had adopted him and his improbable story.

 

Rocky Marciano, whose world record of 49 victories without a loss was under siege by Valuev, can rest easily in boxing heaven. Having run out of phony contenders, Valuev found in his mandatory an opponent who ended the charade and freak show.

 

The man who calls himself the “White Tyson” is now an exciting addition to the heavyweight division. If Samuel Peter beats WBC belt holder Oleg Maskaev as expected, the moribund  heavyweight division would suddenly have four champions who if not Tyson or Lennox Lewis, are legitimate champions and entertaining fighters – Chagaev, Peter, Wladmir Klitschko and Shannon Briggs. Not the Golden Age of boxing, but an improvement. Congratulations are in order to HBO’s unofficial judge, Harold Lederman, who as early as a year ago was predicting this about his “love child:”   “Among the heavyweights, I like Ruslan Chagaev the White Mike Tyson, the one that nobody’s ever seen. I saw him on TV when he fought in Michigan against Rob Calloway, he knocks guys out like crazy. I think that Peter Kohl who promotes Ruslan Chagaev is doing a nice job with him. I think Chagaev is going to be the heavyweight that really may be something special in the division.”

Harold, we may not always agree with your scorecards, but you got this one right!