well not really, but it sure looks like him:

 

 

 

 

 

BERLIN - John Ruiz lost the WBA heavyweight title Saturday night, dropping a disputed majority decision to 7-foot Nikolay Valuev of Russia.

 

Valuev, who becomes the tallest and heaviest (323 pounds) champion of all-time, won 116-113 and 116-114 on two judges? cards, with a third judge scoring the fight 114-114.

 

The crowd of 10,000 booed the decision.

 

 

?Boxing is the only sport where you can get robbed without a gun,? Ruiz said. ?My promoter Don King should do his job and get a rematch.?

 

?I am not going to make second guesses,? King said of the verdict. ?Valuev is the eighth world wonder and he will get the chance to unify all champions. He will rise to new heights. I will take him to America or wherever he wants to fight.?

 

Ruiz?s bitterly disappointed manager, Norman Stone, grabbed the title belt away from Valuev after the fight and ran around the ring holding it over his head until five ring bodyguards forcibly took it back. German promoter Wilfried Sauerland accused him of inciting the crowd, leading to the booing.

 

Each side admitted the fight was close after Valuev loosened up and won the middle rounds. He became the first Russian heavyweight champion.

 

"I'm always fighting a smaller man and the crowd always supports the smaller man,? the 32-year-old Valuev said of the crowd?s jeers. ?But I was perfectly sure at the end I had won.

 

?I had to wait 12 years for this and now it has happened. It?s fantastic.?

 

Ruiz, who weighed 85 pounds less than Valuev at 238 and was 10 inches shorter, appeared to have the fight in hand, using a jab-and-grab tactic to slip in a few punches and then tie up Valuev.

 

Valuev began throwing combinations in the seventh round, adding to a left jab that landed from the opening round. In the ninth, Valuev even danced a bit.

 

Valuev landed the only punch that did damage in the final round, hitting Ruiz on the chin with a straight left that wobbled the champion. Ruiz clinched his way to the end of the fight.

 

Ruiz?s record fell to 42-6-1, while Valuev improved to 43-0 with one no-decision.

 

The American used the clinching moves that carried him through 11 title fights, with wins against Evander Holyfield and Andrew Golota.

 

?We knew beforehand you can?t have a beautiful fight against John Ruiz,? Valuev?s trainer Uli Wegner said. ?But my fighter jabbed him the whole fight and later he used his physical advantage. It was close, but he deserved the verdict.?

 

This was the latest setback for Ruiz after losses to two former middleweights. He was beaten by Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney in April, but was given the title when Toney was stripped of the crown for testing positive for steroids.

 

At the news conference after the bout, Stone accusing the Germans of manipulating the fight, although they did not choose the judges from New Zealand, Australia and Mexico.

 

Ruiz?s camp said they will petition for the rematch with the WBA, which they did successfully for a Holyfield fight.

 

The 32-year-old Valuev is a former basketball player and discus thrower who was fighting for almost nothing in Russia until he was discovered by Sauerland two years ago.

 

?This is the best New Year?s gift I could have,? Valuev said. ?I?m not thinking about being the first Russian champion, I?m thinking of improving, so I can keep the title two or three fights.?

 

 

?Boxing is the only sport where you can get robbed without a gun,? Ruiz said. ?My promoter Don King should do his job and get a rematch.?

Anyone willing to wager the boxing cockroach gets his rematch? A little thing like losing a fight never kept Ruiz from the WBA title before.

The rematch needs to be in Japan under MMA rules!

The rematch needs to be in Japan under MMA rules!

Only if Royce Gracie keeping an opponent in the guard for 30 minutes was your ideal form of entertainment.

No but watching a boxer with one glove being put in the guard by Renzo Gracie was entertaining. In the rematch if John Ruiz attempts the standing clinch every minute he would be meant by some vicious elbows or knees by Giant Drago.