Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev (born 21 August 1973) is a Russian former professional boxer and two time WBA heavyweight champion. After a professional career spanning 16 years, Valuev officially retired from the sport in November 2009. His final fight was a WBA heavyweight title defense against David Haye, in which Valuev was defeated by majority decision after twelve rounds.

Valuev defeated three world champions in John Ruiz, Siarhei Liakhovich and Evander Holyfield, as well as top contenders such as Clifford Etienne, Larry Donald, Owen Beck, Monte Barrett and Jameel McCline.

He currently resides in his birthplace of St. Petersburg with his wife and two children.

Biography

Valuev was born on August 21, 1973, in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia).

He has three young children, daughter Irina and son Grisha (Grigoriy), his third child, son Sergei, was born on July 30, 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 February 5, 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 (7 ft) and heaviest (323 lbs) champion in boxing history. In his first defence he defeated challenger Own Beck (25-3, 18 KOs) 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 (38-6-3, 23 KOs) in St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland. Valuev won the match, succesfully 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 April 14, 2007. Chagaev defeated Valuev by a majority decision (117-111, 115-113 and 114-114). Valuev changed trainers, from Manuel Gabrielian to Alexander Zimin, who coached the old Soviet Union amateur boxing team. On September 29, 2007, Valuev won against Jean-Francois Bergeron in Oldenburg, Germany, by a 12 round unanimous decision (118-111 on all three cards).

Second reign as WBA champion

In a February 16, 2008, title eliminator, Valuev defeated former titleholder Sergei Liakhovich from Balarus, wining 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 July 5, 2008, but Chagaev pulled out with an injury. Valuev instead fought John Ruiz for the vacant title on August 30, 2008 and the WBA decided to make Chagaev "Champion in Recess".