IN 2005, a fight took place for the heavyweight world title that nobody wants to remember, and everyone wants to forget ever happened.
At a moment in heavyweight history when three, four or even five terrific fights are planned, the December night in Berlin back in 2005 will forever haunt us. Sure, there are also some that are not quite so amazing.
Ron Borges, then a staff reporter for the Boston Globe and now transformed as an inspector for the IBO, was the only travelling member of the American boxing press to attend the fight. I missed it for a variety of stupid reasons and should have realised that it would be memorable for all the wrong reasons. I have always had a sweet spot for bad, big fights.
Luckily for us all, Big Ron was there with his pen sharpened.
In the ring that night in front of nearly 10,000 people, Nikolai Valuev got the decision over John Ruiz for one of the world heavyweight titles. It was, obviously, not much of a fight. It was negative, repetitive and frustrating to watch. The crowd booed their own man when he got the nod. Borges was harsh and declared that Valuev had stolen the title.
According to Borges, the Big Russian, “held, elbowed, pressed down on the back of Ruiz’s head” for 12 rounds. The punchline to that sentence should have been… but not all his work was so clean. It was a mess of a fight and when the decision was announced, it got uglier.
The scores in Valuev’s favour were 116-114, 116-113 and a drawn score of 114-114; Borges had it for Ruiz 116-112. Ruiz just shook his head and left the ring with his people. The crowd continued to boo. The night at a German fight is only just starting when the decision is announced; there are organised functions, good late-night restaurants, beer on tap until late at the venue. It’s a good scene.
However, the night in Berlin was about to go to the next level.
Ruiz’s manager, Norman Stone, returned to the ring and he was angry. He snatched the WBA belt from Valuev’s shoulder, which is brave considering Valuev stands about 7ft 2ins in his socks. Valuev never flinched, Stone held the belt aloft and was cheered as he paraded around the ring. At that point, Hagen Sevecke, one of Valuev’s cornermen, had seen enough and he jumped forward and sucker punched Stone. Bang. Borges delivered the inevitable: It was “the cleanest punch of the night.”
Stone “wheeled back and the two went at it”, and then a security guard grabbed Stone, who was still holding the belt, from behind, trapping his arms. Sevecke stepped forward for a few free shots and then Jameel McCline, the heavyweight contender and a good 6ft 6ins, stepped between them to help Stone. That cooled down the ring fight. Valuev was not involved – he was, I’m not kidding, a pacifist.
Ruiz was, at this point, ranting and raving in the dressing room in front of the German television cameras. “If the people of Germany feel I lost I’ll leave quietly, but if they feel I got robbed they should continue to scream like they did tonight until I get a rematch,” said Ruiz.
At some point close to midnight the storm had eased and Valuev, the gentle giant, had his say. “I excuse myself as it wasn’t the most beautiful performance. But I worked for 12 years for this moment. The most important thing is I won the decision and the championship,” he said. It was impossible to dislike the ‘Beast from the East’ – Kellie Maloney has always maintained that she gave Valuev that name when he was fighting for Maloney at Battersea Town Hall.
There was talk of a heavyweight unification fight between Valuev and Wladimir Klitschko in Germany and then Don King, the promoter, proposed Valuev v Ruiz II in Baghdad. I’m not inventing this, it is real, it happened. King’s Baghdad plan led George Kimball, the writing master, to imagine a quote from Saddam Hussein, who at the time had been captured and was in custody. Kimball was a funny man, and he had Hussein say about King’s proposal: “Not a single American had to watch this fight – why should I?”
King had done some good business at the Valuev and Ruiz fight. He had negotiated a deal to have options on four Valuev fights and taken a large chunk of the income. He delivered Ruiz – that is how it works. Ruiz was stuck in many ways and left to hope.
“If Don King is really my promoter, he’ll do something for me,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz did get another shot at Valuev in 2008; the vacant WBA title was the prize, and he lost again. There was no screaming this time.
Valuev made three defences of his title, lost it in 2007 to Ruslan Chagaev, won it back against Ruiz, beat Evander Holyfield and then lost it to David Haye in 2009. He then vanished. Valuev in world title fights against Owen Beck, McCline and Monte Barrett just seem like fights from another boxing dimension. There were a lot of close fights back then. And bad ones.
As Borges said in summary: “This is boxing, the only place in the world where robbery isn’t even a misdemeanour.”
They were fun days, but now even the chance of Joseph Parker and Daniel Dubois with a Martin Bakole chaser is on a different level. I still wish I had gone to Berlin for Valuev against Ruiz. That was my type of heavyweight title fight.
