John Ruiz vs. Nikolai Valuev was a professional boxing match contested on 17 December 2005, for the WBA heavyweight championship.[1]
Background
After reversing his short lived retirement following his defeat at the hands of James Toney was changed to a non contest, John Ruiz agreed in October 2005 to face the undefeated Nikolai Valuev, who had just won a close and disputed title eliminator with Larry Donald.[2]
Bookmakers Stan James had Valuev as the 13–8 on favourite to win.[3]
The fight
Ruiz picked off the Russian easily throughout the fight and cut him below the left eye. However Valuev managed to rock Ruiz with a left in the eighth and edged the final round with right-left combination that wobbled the American.
The two of the three judges scored the bout for Valuev 114–116 and 113–116 while the third scored it 114–114, giving Valuev a Majority Decision victory, becoming the first-ever Russian world heavyweight champion. He also became the tallest and heaviest champion in boxing history.[4] However it was also a controversial one causing 10,000 German spectators booed when the decision was announced.
Aftermath
Ruiz was convinced that his jab/combination-punch technique had given him a clear victory and demanded that his promoter, Don King, set up an immediate re-match. Ruiz's long-time manager, Norman Stone, who had grabbed the belt and yelled insults at the Valuev camp following the decision, declared that they would also formally petition the WBA. Ruiz's camp claimed that the Germans booed because they too felt that the outcome was unjust, with Ruiz telling the post-fight media conference "Only in boxing can you get robbed without a gun". Wilfried Sauerland, the manager who rescued Valuev's career from obscurity two years earlier, angrily countered that the fans had booed because Stone's in-ring behavior had agitated them.[5]
