By Mark Vester

Nikolai Valuev (46-1, 34KOs) can forget about breaking the unbeaten 49-0 record of Rocky Marciano. Ruslan "White Tyson" Chagaev (23-0-1, 17KOs) outhustled Valuev on route to a majority decision to capture the WBA heavyweight title at the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Germany. The scores were 117-111, 115-113 and 114-114.

Valuev, with an 11-inch height advantage, was unable to crack the southpaw style of Chagaev, who used his quicker hands and feet to confuse the Russian giant. After Chagaev built an early lead with his hard left hand, Valuev began to fire back in the sixth round with some hard rights.

The jab of Valuev was working for most of the fight, but also left him wide open as Chagaev peppered him with combinations, followed by his hard left.

In the final four rounds, Chagaev began to tire and Valuev was slowly coming on with hard shots. Realizing what Valuev was trying to do, Chagaev stood his ground and traded power punches with the stronger man.

By the final round, both men were tired, but Chagaev was still landing the better punches to rock Valuev back. When the final bell rang, Chagaev went wild and so did thousands of German fans that were won over by his performance.

Valuev, was all over media in recent weeks and talking about breaking the unbeaten record of Rocky Marciano and fighting IBF champ Wladimir Klitschko. He overlooked Chagaev and paid for it.