Ruslan Chagaev

Ruslan Chagaev Руслан Чагаев
Chagaev in 2007
Statistics
Nickname(s)	White Tyson
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Reach	188 cm (74 in)
Nationality	Uzbekistani
Born	19 October 1978 Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union (now Uzbekistan)
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	38
Wins	34
Wins by KO	21
Losses	3
Draws	1
Medal record Representing  Uzbekistan Men's boxing World Amateur Championships Belfast 2001 Super heavyweight

Ruslan Chagaev (Tatar: Руслан Шамил улы Чагаев; Russian: Руслан Шамилович Чагаев); born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbekistani professional boxer. He is a former WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion, having previously held the full version of the title in 2007, following a majority decision victory over Nikolai Valuev; this made him the first and to date only Asian in the history of boxing to hold a major heavyweight title. He was made "champion in recess" after sustaining an injury and was forced to relinquish the title after failing to face Valuev in a scheduled rematch. In June 2009, Chagaev suffered his first career defeat to then-reigning IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Chagaev won the WBA title for a second time – the organisation's "regular" title – in July 2014 by defeating Fres Oquendo.

As an amateur, fighting in the super heavyweight division, Chagaev won gold medals at the Asian and World Championships.

Professional career

1997-2005: Early career

Ruslan Chagaev (center) inside the ring with his coach Michael Timm (right) challenging Rob Calloway (left). 7 January 2006).

Having fought twice in 1997, Chagaev returned to amateur boxing. He turned pro fully in 2001, with the only flaw on his early record coming 5 October 2002 bout against Rob Calloway in Detroit, Michigan, United States. At the end of third round, the fight was stopped due to Calloway having a wound caused by a headbutt. Michigan boxing rule mandated that the fight be called a Technical Draw (TD) since the bout ended by an accidental foul. Usually four rounds are needed to go to the score cards for decision.

Chagaev slowly but steadily climbed up the heavyweight ranks, first avenging the no-contest with a brutal second round knockout of Calloway.

2006: Title contender

In 2006 he beat undefeated Ukrainian prospect Vladimir Virchis in a close and intense punchfest, and slowly took apart prominent British boxer Michael Sprott. On 18 November 2006, he fought the former WBA champion John Ruiz, and prevailed in a close contest. He took a split decision with scores of 117–111 and 116–112 for Chagaev, and 115–114 for Ruiz. Chagaev became the mandatory challenger for a shot at Nikolai Valuev, the WBA heavyweight champion at the time.

2007-2008: WBA Heavyweight Champion and title defense

Chagaev defeated Valuev on 14 April 2007 by a majority decision (117–111, 115–113 and 114–114) to win the title.

On 26 June 2007, it was announced that Ruslan Chagaev would partake in a heavyweight unification bout with WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov. The fight was due to take place in Moscow on 13 October 2007 and would have been the first heavyweight unification bout since 1999;^[1] however, Chagaev had to drop out of the fight after contracting hepatitis B.^[2] At that point, it was not clear whether he would have been able to compete at all, with WBA considering a championship tournament for Chagaev's crown.^[3] After Ibragimov defended his crown against Evander Holyfield, however, it was announced that Chagaev was able to recover.

Chagaev defended his WBA heavyweight title against Matt Skelton on 19 January 2008 by unanimous decision.

His next mandatory defense was to be a rematch on 5 July 2008 with Nikolai Valuev, who defeated former WBO champion Sergei Liakhovich by unanimous decision to earn the right. However, the fight had to be cancelled after Chagaev suffered a complete tear of an Achilles tendon during his final sparring session in preparation for the defense, causing Chagaev's second postponement of the match. The WBA elected to make Chagaev "Champion in Recess" due to the injury that Chagaev sustained and necessary recovery time and mandated that top-contenders Valuev and John Ruiz meet for the vacated title. By beating Ruiz, Valuev also became champion on 30 August 2008.

2009: Second title defense and Klitschko fight

Chagaev returned from injury on 7 February 2009 with a victory over the then-unbeaten Costa Rican, Carl Davis Drumond to retain his title. The bout was decided by a controversial technical decision after Chagaev sustained a cut from an unintentional clash of heads. Chagaev and Nikolai Valuev were supposed to fight no later than 26 June 2009 to determine who the WBA regarded as their champion.^[4] They were scheduled to fight on 30 May 2009 in Helsinki, Finland at the Hartwall Arena, but Chagaev failed a Finnish medical test, allegedly due to hepatitis. On 24 July 2009, when the WBA published their Official Ratings as of June 2009, Chagaev was no longer the "Champion in Recess" but the No. 1 challenger instead.

Chagaev was defeated for the first time in his professional career in a bout with Wladimir Klitschko on 20 June 2009 with a 9th round ref stoppage. Klitschko retained his WBO, IBO & IBF crowns and won the vacant Ring magazine title. The fight was held at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, and Klitschko's WBO, IBO & IBF heavyweight titles were at stake.

The WBA title that he shared with Nikolai Valuev was not at stake, as the WBA confirmed Valuev was to be the WBA Champion.

2010-11: WBA elimination bout and vacant WBA title shot

Chagaev fought Kali Meehan (35–3; 29 KO) on 22 May 2010, in a WBA Heavyweight Title Eliminator at the Stadthalle in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The former WBA champion won the bout by unanimous decision with the scores of 117–111, 117–112 and 118–110.^[5] Six months later in a stay busy fight, he defeated Travis Walker on points in an eight round fight. On 27 August 2011 Chagaev lost a competitive bout against Alexander Povetkin by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

2012-14: Return victories and recapturing WBA title

After the Povetkin bout, Chagaev went 5-0 (3 KO), defeating world ranked Jovo Pudar & four journeymen with respectable records. Next he took on Fres Oquendo for the vacant WBA regular Heavyweight title & won the fight by majority decision. The current WBA (Super) World Heavyweight Champion is Tyson Fury, who is also the IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion.

2015-Present: Second WBA title and defenses

In his first title defense, he stopped long time contender Francesco Pianeta in the first round. He is scheduled to take on Fres Oquendo in a rematch.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Chagaev is of Volga Tatar ethnicity and an adherent of Islam.^[7][8] His parents, Shamil and Zamira Chagaev, are Mishar Tatars from the village of Kalda^[7] (located in today's Baryshsky District of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia), who moved to the Uzbek SSR in the 1950s.^[7] Chagaev has a sister, Luiza.^[7] He is married to Viktoria, an ethnic Armenian,^[9] who is also from Andijan. They have two children together. Their first son, Artur, was born on 24 March 2004. Ruslan resides in Hamburg, Germany with his family.

Professional championships

World titles:

• WBA Heavyweight Champion
• WBA Heavyweight Champion in Recess
• WBA (Regular) Heavyweight Champion

Regional/International Titles:

• WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight Champion
• WBA Inter-Continental Heavyweight Champion
• WBO Asia Pacific Champion
• PABA Heavyweight Champion
• WBA Heavyweight Continental Champion

See also

• List of current world boxing champions
• List of heavyweight boxing champions
• List of left-handed boxers

References

1. "ESPN – Ibragimov, Chagaev to unify heavyweigh titles – Boxing". Retrieved 2007-06-28.
2. "Skelton to face Chagaev for WBA heavyweight title". USA TODAY (Gannett Co. Inc.). Associated Press. 6 December 2007. Retrieved 2002-02-16.
3. "Boxing Commentary: The WBA Tournament – Are These Guys Crazy?".
4. ¡Chagaev venció a Davis Drummond en Rostock!. Notifight.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-19.
5. Sukachev, Alexey (22 May 2010). "Chagaev Decisions Meehan, David Haye Could Be Next". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
6. Ruslan Chagaev – Boxer. Boxrec.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-19.
7. "Родная сестра руслана чагаева луиза: «горжусь, что мой брат ни разу в жизни не выкурил ни одной...".
8. https://ummahsports.net/2015/06/10/top-10-active-muslim-boxers/
9. "Чемпион мира WBA Руслан Чагаев (Узбекистан): Только после боя я разглядел, какой же Валуев огромный!". Советский Спорт.

External links

• Official site of Ruslan Chagaev
• Ruslan Chagaev Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• News and Pictures of Ruslan Chagaev
• Professional boxing record for Ruslan Chagaev from BoxRec
• Ministry of Cultural and Sports Affairs of Uzbekistan