Ruiz loses heavyweight title to Russian giant

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=sportsNews&storyid=2005-12-18T022526Z_01_SPI80 ^ | Sun Dec 18, 2005 2:25 AM GMT | Erik Kirschbaum

[RusIvan]

BERLIN (Reuters) - Nikolai Valuev won the World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title with a controversial majority decision over American John Ruiz on Saturday to become the first Russian champion in boxing's most glamorous division.

Ruiz's bitterly disappointed manager, Norman Stone, grabbed the title belt away from Valuev after the fight and ran around the ring holding it over his head until five ring bodyguards forcibly took it back.

Two of the judges put Valuev ahead of the defending champion at the end of the 12-round fight, scoring it 116-114 and 116-113 for the Russian who is known as the "Beast of the East" for his towering size and formidable weight advantage in every fight.

The third judge had both Valuev and Ruiz even at 114 in the first heavyweight title fight ever held in Berlin.

[GeronL]

Ruiz's bitterly disappointed manager, Norman Stone, grabbed the title belt away from Valuev after the fight and ran around the ring holding it over his head until five ring bodyguards forcibly took it back.

Oh goodness, what a bad display, no wonder they hate all Americans /sarcasm

[RusIvan]

ping

[RusIvan]

you kidding:))

[iPod Shuffle]

Champion of the Month.

Boxing hasn't had a real champ since Mike Tyson was KOed by Buster Douglas.

[Troublemaker]

Valuev, who is 2.13 metre (7ft) and 147 kg (324lbs)

[Alter Kaker]

My God.

[kajingawd]

Lennox Lewis was champ for almost 8 years...

[LibWhacker]

Pictures from the fight.

A slight reach advantage for the Roosky, lol.

[NMR Guy]

I think this picture puts it in context...

[beaver fever]

You could hit that guy with a sledghammer and you would have to go out and buy a new sledgehammer. Plus the fight photos ar freaky. Who's the the Travis Bickle mohawk guy in the audience?

[Joe Boucher]

Remember how when Ali was champ he always proclaimed he was the prettiest? Well this guys family tree hasn't evolved since cro magnum days.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Boxing or WWE?
We knew Heavyweight "Champion" John Ruiz was a joke...but now Don King has decided the only opponent people will watch is a wrestling castoff. Nikolai Valuev is 7-foot, 330-pounds.

[Larry Lucido]

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Lennox Lewis was champ for almost 8 years...

I was about to say...

Seriously, boxing is such a joke these days I had no idea, nor did I care, who was heavyweight champ. The days of Ali are long gone.

[RipSawyer]

Valuev, who is 2.13 metre (7ft) and 147 kg (324lbs)>>>>>>>>


And UUUUggggLLEEEE!!!!!!!!! He should star in the next remake of beauty and the beast, uh, on second thought, he is too ugly to be a beast.

[RIGHT IN LAS VEGAS]

Ruiz, your papers.......now!
We will send your mammie back

[MrLee]

Agree. Ali was the "Greatest" boxer. Too bad he embraced Islam-a cult of death and racism.

[zeebee]

or this:

[beyond the sea]

7 foot 2 inches, I read yesterday..... not that it matters much

;-)

[KneelBeforeZod]

what was that monster russian wrestlers name? karolin or something...

[Grzegorz 246]

I saw the fight. Disgusting. They both should rather be wrestlers.

[UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide]

I must break you.

[lawgirl]

YES! Exactly what I was thinking- "I will break you!" LOL!

[Godebert]

Check out the prominent brow ridge and sloping forehead on that Russian dude. I'm guessing this guy has some ancestors from the Neander Valley.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Time to get Vladimir Klitchko back into training.

[Moose4]

Wow. OK, I'd love to see that guy fight. Does he actually have any skills at that size? Can he actually move around?

}:-)4

[Jimmy Valentine]

Ruiz is lucky the guy didn't eat him.

[moonman]

the guy needs a body waxing to remove that excess hair.

[Eepsy]

Yeah, but who's going to tell him?

[RaceBannon]

look at ow small his hands are compared to his body size!

not proportionate at all.

[1rudeboy]

Ruiz's bitterly disappointed manager, Norman Stone, grabbed the title belt away from Valuev after the fight and ran around the ring holding it over his head until five ring bodyguards forcibly took it back.

True class.

[SampleMan]

We need to get some information on where exactly this guy came from in Russia and send out a scientific team to find the rest of the Mammoth Hunters. Wow! He really does have the brow ridge and prominent jaw of a Neanderthal.

[AngrySpud]

Ruiz? I really haven't followed boxing in years, I guess. He looks soft, a Pillsbury doughboy.

As for the Russian, congratulations to him. However, a guy that size shouldn't have to go the distance. A guy that size should be able to let loose with his 16-inch battleship guns from a distance, and reduce his opponents to rubble.

[JCEccles]

Imagine if Shaquille O'Neal had taken up boxing instead of basketball.

[Iscool]

Ha...Look at the size of that guy's gloves...He doesn't just smash your nose or jaw...He gets the whole face...

[Just mythoughts]

"Check out the prominent brow ridge and sloping forehead on that Russian dude. I'm guessing this guy has some ancestors from the Neander Valley."

Maybe a common descent from Goliath's family.

[verity]

Back in his early days, crazy Mike would have chopped him down very quickly.

[Skooz]

That is one bad bad bad bad bad bad looking dude.

[Skooz]

Seriously, boxing is such a joke these days I had no idea, nor did I care, who was heavyweight champ. The days of Ali are long gone.

Ditto, ditto and ditto.

[ExpatGator]

He has little girlie fists (not that I would want the freak pounding on my noggin).

[kanawa]

Tyson would have had his nipple for lunch.

[em2vn]

The cards were 2-0-1 for the Russian fighter and Ruiz's manager was making an ass of himself. Three judges and none of them say it for his guy.
Think the fans and press will remember the manager is an American?

[texas booster]

Looks like classic gigantism, much like Andre the Giant had.

Of course, being from Russia, perhaps a check of the levels of Human Growth Hormone would be in order.

[ErnBatavia]

He doesn't have that "float like a butterfly" look about him...

[MWS]

Here's yet another picture of the fight to put the size difference in perspective...

[antisocial]

"Agree. Ali was the "Greatest" boxer. Too bad he embraced Islam-a cult of death and racism."

I would submit that Larry Holmes was the greatest.

[Godebert]