Ruslan Chagaev

Ruslan Chagaev
Statistics
Real name	Ruslan Chagaev
Nickname(s)	White Tyson
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Reach	188 cm (74 in)
Nationality	Uzbekistan
Born	(1978-10-19) 19 October 1978 Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	36
Wins	33
Wins by KO	20
Losses	2
Draws	1
No contests	0

Ruslan Chagaev

Medal record
Competitor for  Uzbekistan
Men's Boxing
World Amateur Championships
Gold	Belfast 2001	Super Heavyweight

Ruslan Chagaev (Tatar Cyrillic: Руслан Шамил улы Чагаев, Latin: Ruslan Şamil ulı Çağaev; Russian: Руслан Шамилович Чагаев) born 19 October 1978 in Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union) is the current WBA heavyweight champion. As an amateur boxer, he has won the Asian and World Championships in the heavyweight (81–91 kg) category.

Chagaev won the WBA title in 2007 with a majority decision victory over Nikolai Valuev, becoming the first and so far the only Asian in history to hold a major heavyweight title. He was made "champion in recess" after he sustained an injury and relinquished the title after failing to have a rematch with Valuev. In his next fight, Chagaev lost by stoppage to IBF, WBO and IBO Champion Wladimir Klitschko.

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 & 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.^[4] By beating Ruiz, Valuev also became champion on 30 August 2008.

2009: Second Title Defense & 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.^[5] 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: WBA Elimination Bout & Staying Busy

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.^[6] Six months later in a stay busy fight, he defeated Travis Walker on points in an eight round fight.

2011: Vacant WBA Title Shot

On 27 August 2011 Chagaev lost a competitive bout against Alexander Povetkin by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

2012 – present: Return Victories & Regaining WBA Title

Since 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 Wladimir Klitschko, who is also the IBF, WBO, IBO and Ring Magazine Heavyweight Champion.

Professional boxing record

33 Wins (20 knockouts), 2 Losses, 1 Draw[7]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Rounds	Date	Location	Notes
style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A				12	2015-06-27	Germany	Defending WBA (Regular) World Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	33-2-1	Fres Oquendo	MD	12	2014-07-06	Grozny, Russia	Won vacant WBA (Regular) World Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	32-2-1	Jovo Pudar	UD	12	2013-10-05	Olympic Indoor Arena, Moscow, Russia	Won PABA & WBA Continental Heavyweight titles.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	31-2-1	Mike Sheppard	KO	1 (10)	2013-03-22	Berlin, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	30-2-1	Werner Kreiskott	TKO	7 (8), 0:14	2012-09-01	Oberhausen, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	29-2-1	Billy Zumbrun	TKO	3 (8), 1:26	2012-04-21	Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	28-2-1	Kertson Manswell	UD	8	2012-01-28	Rotherbaum, Hamburg, Germany
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" | Loss	27-2-1	Alexander Povetkin	UD	12	2011-08-27	Erfurt, Thüringen, Germany	For vacant WBA (Regular) World Heavyweight title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	27-1-1	Travis Walker	UD	8	2010-11-19	Universum Gym, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	26-1-1	Kali Meehan	UD	12 (12)	2010-05-22	Rostock, Germany	WBA Heavyweight Title Eliminator.
style="background: #ffdddd; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-no2" |Loss	25-1-1	Wladimir Klitschko	RTD	9 (12), 3:00	2009-06-20	Gelsenkirchen, Germany	For IBF, WBO, and IBO Heavyweight Titles; Chagaev's WBA title Was Not on the line.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	25-0-1	Carl Davis Drumond	TD	6 (12), 3:00	2009-02-07	Rostock, Germany	Defended WBA World Heavyweight Title; Fight was stopped due to an accidental headbutt.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	24-0-1	Matt Skelton	UD	12 (12)	2008-01-19	Düsseldorf, Germany	Defended WBA World Heavyweight Title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	23-0-1	Nikolai Valuev	MD	12 (12)	2007-04-14	Stuttgart, Germany	Won WBA World Heavyweight Title. Valuev's first loss.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	22-0-1	John Ruiz	SD	12 (12)	2006-11-18	Düsseldorf, Germany	WBA Heavyweight Title Eliminator.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	21-0-1	Michael Sprott	TKO	8 (12), 2:54	2006-07-15	Hamburg, Germany	Defended WBA Inter-Cont. HW Title; Won Vacant WBO Asia Pacific HW Title.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	20-0-1	Vladimir Virchis	MD	12 (12)	2006-03-11	Hamburg, Germany	Won WBO and WBA Inter-Cont. HW Titles.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	19-0-1	Rob Calloway	KO	2 (10), 2:10	2006-01-07	Munich, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	18-0-1	Mark Krence	KO	5 (8), 1:28	2005-10-22	Halle, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	17-0-1	Jucimar Francisco Hipolito	TKO	1 (8), 0:50	2005-09-28	Hamburg, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	16-0-1	Sherman Williams	UD	8 (8)	2005-03-26	Riesa, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	15-0-1	Tommy Connelly	TKO	2 (8), 1:51	2004-12-14	Sölden, Austria
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	14-0-1	Asmir Vojnovic	TKO	4 (10), 0:45	2004-11-16	Cuxhaven, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	13-0-1	Willie Williams	KO	3 (8), 2:25	2004-10-26	Rostock, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	12-0-1	Garing Lane	KO	5 (8), 1:46	2004-07-31	Stuttgart, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	11-0-1	Sedreck Fields	KO	2 (8), 2:45	2004-06-22	Telfs, Austria	Rematch.
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	10-0-1	Wade Lewis	KO	1 (6), 2:33	2004-05-18	Lübeck, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	9-0-1	Alexey Varakin	KO	2 (6), ?:??	2004-03-30	Aachen, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	8-0-1	Sedreck Fields	UD	6	2004-02-17	Lübeck, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	7-0-1	Daniel Frank	KO	2 (6), 0:54	2003-11-18	Wandsbek, Germany
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	6-0-1	Zakeem Graham	TKO	3 (10), 2:26	2003-05-22	Yonkers, USA
Draw	5-0-1	Rob Calloway	TD	3 (10), 2:41	2002-10-05	Detroit, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	5–0	Chris Isaac	UD	8	2002-05-11	Biloxi, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	4–0	Val Smith	KO	1 (4), 2:26	2002-01-14	Las Vegas, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	3–0	Everett Martin	TKO	4 (4), ?	2001-09-21	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	2–0	Brian Jones	KO	2 (4), 1:10	1997-09-03	Rosemont, USA
style="background:#bfd; color:black; vertical-align:middle; text-align:center; " class="table-yes2" |Win	1–0	Donnie Penelton	KO	1 (4), 2:30	1997-08-21	Aurora, USA	Chagaev's professional debut.

Personal life

Ruslan Chagaev was born in a Volga Tatar family, to Shamil Chagaev and Zamira Chagaeva. He has one sister, Luiza. He is married to Viktoria, an ethnic Armenian,^[8] also born in Andijan. They have two children. Their first son, Artur, was born on 24 March 2004.

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

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