Valuev is the WBA heavyweight champion, and he is going to hold that title for a long, long time.
Valuev doesn't deserve any special commendation for stopping Monte Barrett -- who didn't deserve the title shot in the first place -- last week in Chicago.
But the 7-foot, 330-pound Russian did what Las Vegan Hasim Rahman could not do. He stopped Barrett in the 11th round, decisively beating him.
Rahman won the WBC interim heavyweight title by defeating Barrett 14 months earlier in a resoundingly bad fight.
And Valuev showed that while his primary attribute is his size -- Rahman once said Valuev's head is the size of a Volkswagen -- he is not as bad as he once was. He is, most definitely, not a circus sideshow.
Even the world's best fighter, a guy who is a harsh critic of others' skills, conceded Valuev has talent.
"He was impressive," unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. said. "For a guy that big, he threw a lot of punches."
Valuev is not a puncher along the lines of Mike Tyson, but he hits hard enough to hurt world-class heavyweights. Just ask Barrett, who spent two days in the hospital after the punishment he took from Valuev.
He's not a boxer like Muhammad Ali, who, when he was young, owned the best jab in heavyweight history. But Valuev's jab is hard and accurate and more than enough to slow an attacking opponent.
Valuev, 33, has three things going for him that should help him keep the WBA strap around his waist for the foreseeable future.
First, he has a solid chin and seems able to withstand the blows of the best heavyweight punchers.:scared
Second, his immense size is going to make him, literally, a handful for any opponent who fights him.
For years, Valuev (45-0, 33 knockouts) was listed at 7 feet 2 inches, though his official biography now lists him simply at 7 feet. There are those close to him, though, who say he has been measured and actually stands 7-3.
But whether he's 7-3 or "just" 7 feet is irrelevant. He's staggeringly large.
IBF champion Wladimir Klitschko is the second-largest of the belt-holders, and at 6-5 and 245 pounds, he's at least 7 inches and 85 pounds smaller.
If you're not impressed with his skills, ask yourself this: What fighter can deal with his size?
Then, finally, his greatest asset may be his promoter. Don King has never pulled on a pair of gloves, but nobody knows better how to defend a world title.:SIB
With the intense curiosity about Valuev, and with Valuev closing in on Rocky Marciano's exalted 48-0 record, don't think for a moment that King is going to risk getting Valuev beaten anytime soon.
If a state athletic commission would approve it, King would sign Valuev to fight the baddest nun from the Little Sisters of the Poor.
"People want to say the verdict is (still) out on the guy, but if you say that, then go beat him," King said Friday. "Anyone can armchair it and say he's this or he's that, but if he is this or he is that, then go out and beat the man.
"But the thing is this: Both of the Klitschkos are losers. Vitali got his claim by losing, not by winning. He got a reputation by putting up a good fight when he lost (to Lennox Lewis).
And (with Wladimir), Corrie Sanders had a four-year layoff, walked off the golf course and knocked him out. They stalled me for years with Lamon Brewster, but then he kayoed (Wladimir) Klitschko."
King, as is typical, is calling for a tournament to unify the belts, but he doesn't want to put his champions together.
Larry Donald deserved the decision over Valuev when they fought in Germany on Oct. 1, 2005. But the Valuev who took apart Barrett last Saturday was much sharper.
He threw straighter, harder punches, set Barrett up for his shots and was vastly improved in his conditioning.
He's no Ali or Marciano or Joe Louis. He pales in comparison to Larry Holmes. But Valuev is plenty good by today's standards to be around for a long, long time.
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