By Mark Vester
According to Russian news outlet Pravda, WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev may face up to five years in prison for the minor assault with an elderly security guard, Yury Sergeyev, from three years back. The legal case has been going on since January 2006, when Valuev roughed up the Spartak Sports Complex's guard for being rude to his wife at the venue's parking lot. Because of the beating, the guard was said to have suffered a brain concussion.
The criminal case was concluded with Valuev being fined 130.000 rubles ($4,200) but then both parties lodged an appeal over Sergeyev's allegations of new injuries. Three years after the trial, the guard is claiming posttraumatic changes of the sixth and seventh ribs. Sergeyev’s lawyer is demanding a stiff sentence due to the new injuries that have been discovered and is trying to link them to the 06 beating. Valuev's lawyers are fighting back by stating that no rib injuries were ever revealed during the medical exam for the trial.
The court has ordered a new medical exam to establish how many years back the injuries are stemming from. But even if the injuries are ruled to have been a few years old, the guard will still have to prove that it was Valuev who caused them.
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