By Dr. Peter Edwards

 

The seven-foot "Beast From The East" has arrived to attempt to conquer the heavyweight division. No longer a secret to American fight fans, the WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev (45-0, 35KOs) scored an eleventh-round technical knockout over Monte Barrett (31-5, 17KOs) in Chicago's Allstate Arena.

 

The bout with Barrett showcased several of Valuev's flaws and his strengths. In the first round, Valuev came out like his moniker and tried to end things early. It was remarkable that Monte Barrett was able to last until the eleventh round as he ate plenty of Valuev's power punches.

 

The defense of Valuev is practically nonexistent because Barrett was able to land a lot of winging punches, but Valuev took them like they were shots coming from a child. Barrett was able to keep himself in the fight by holding when necessary, but the size of Valuev came to play in the seventh round as Barrett began to tire.

 

Valuev dropped Barrett in round eight, Barrett was able to beat the count and continued to land decent punches. The end came in the eleventh round when Valuev began to land some flush right hands that crashed Barrett to the floor. Barrett once again showed his heart by beating the count and moments later was knocked down again. Barrett, without any legs, tried to hold on to make it out of the round, but his trainer had seen enough and jumped in the ring to keep Barrett from being seriously hurt.

 

The positives for Valuev are his chin and his stamina. For such a large man to throw so many punches and not get tired is amazing. Far smaller heavyweights are unable to throw as many punches as Valuev without getting tired. The negatives for Valuev is his lack of defense, and his inability switch-up his punches. He routinely threw the same punches over and over. If Barrett was able to capitalize on Valuev's consistent punch routine, the big Russian could have faced some serious problems.

 

Extremely popular in Russia and Germany, promoter Don King is attempting make Valuev the biggest force in the heavyweight division.

 

Unification is the only road that makes sense in terms of money and making Valuev a bigger name in the sport. Valuev will have to wait until 2007 in order to face any of the other champions due to the other title holders already being committed to upcoming bouts.

 

WBC heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko clashes with Calvin Brock on November 11, WBO heavyweight champion Sergei Liakhovich faces Shannon Briggs on November 4, and WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev returns in December to make a voluntary defense in Moscow.

 

The picking are slim in the heavyweight division with respect to quality opponents and big money fights. Valuev has a major curiosity factor surrounding him. Boxing fans will always be curious to see a 7'2 giant of man fighting in the ring. Valuev's lack of defense makes him exciting enough to properly market and he appears to have a sturdy enough chin to last with any of the big punchers.

 

The overall potential of Valuev is still suspect, and only time will tell if the giant fighter is for real.

 

On the undercard:

 

Undefeated Tomasz Adamek 31-0 (20KOs) retained his WBC light heavyweight title in another fight-of-year battle with Paul Briggs (25-3, 18KOs). Their first meeting was a pure slugfest, the rematch was no different.

 

Adamek hit the floor in the first round from a jab, and lost a point for a low blow in the ninth round. The scores were 114-112 for Adamek, 115-111 Adamek and 113-113 for a draw.

 

Heavyweight contender Mike Mollo (17-1, 11KOs) demolished Kevin McBride (34-5-1, 28KOs) in two rounds. McBride never got a chance to capitalize on his 2005 TKO win over Mike Tyson, and likely never will with this kind of performance. Mollo knocked McBride down in the first, and two more times in the second before the referee stopped the fight.

 

In a battle of lightweight, Nate Campbell (29-5-1, 24KOs) dominated Matt Zegan (37-2, 21KOs) on route to a one-sided twelve round decision. The scores were 119-107, 118-109 and 120-106. Campbell knocked Zagan down in rounds one and six. The bout was an IBF eliminator.

 

Former middleweight champion Keith Holmes (38-4, 24KOs), now at light heavyweight, picked up a ten round decision over Cory "Black Ice" Cummings (15-2, 12KOs). The scores were 97-93, 99-91 and 98-92.

 

Undefeated middleweight prospect Louis Turner (7-0, 6KOs) won a six round decision over David Estrada (10-9, 7KOs). The scores were 59-55, 58-56 and 58-56.