Valuev Plots His Revenge, Chagaev Vows To Repeat

Valuev has been waiting for the rematch for a long time. As the WBA´s mandatory challenger, he was scheduled to take on Chagaev on May 31, 2007. However, an injury forced the Universum fighter to postpone the fight. When Chagaev also pulled out of the second meeting on July 5 due to an Achilles injury, the title was vacated. Valuev defeated John Ruiz in August to win the vacant title, with Chagaev being named “champion in recess”.

On Tuesday, the 30-year-old Uzbek (25-0, 17 KOs), who had returned to the ring in February with a victory over Carl Davis Drumond, showed what he thinks of his current title, pasting over the “in recess” line on his name tag. He had also printed “The Real Champion” on the back of his t-shirt. “I have beaten Valuev once and I will beat him again,” he said. “I don´t understand what all that talk is about. I am the champion.”

Valuev was unimpressed by Chagaev´s remarks, and Kalle Sauerland made clear that the WBA officially lists Valuev as the “WBA heavyweight champion”, with Chagaev being the “champion in recess”. Sauerland also said he expects a gigantic interest in the fight. “This will be a global happening which people all over the world will be eager to see,” he stated. “We expect a worldwide TV audience of roughly 100 million people.”

Tickets will be on sale on May 4.