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Nikolai Valuev admitted that David Haye was just too quick for him.
The giant Russian lost his world title to the Londoner after 12 cat-and-mouse rounds in Nuremberg on Saturday night.
One of the judges had it level at 114-114 but with Haye taking the final two verdicts 116-112, he became the second man to beat Valuev and Britain's first heavyweight world champion for seven years.
But the Russian was magnamimous in defeat admitting that his opponent had been just too small and too slick for him to handle.
"The speed of my opponent was a problem," he said.
"I could not work my right and the 40-plus kilos difference in weight is something you start to feel."
Valuev has still never been floored in 53 professional fights but was wobbled severely in a sensational last round.
Leaping up, Haye caught him flush with a left hook and as his legs buckled underneath him, it looked as if the seven-foot giant was on his way down.
He survived the scare but felt that was the moment the world title slipped from his grasp.
"It was all decided in that final round," he said. "It was clearly that last round."
The giant Russian lost his world title to the Londoner after 12 cat-and-mouse rounds in Nuremberg on Saturday night.
One of the judges had it level at 114-114 but with Haye taking the final two verdicts 116-112, he became the second man to beat Valuev and Britain's first heavyweight world champion for seven years.
But the Russian was magnamimous in defeat admitting that his opponent had been just too small and too slick for him to handle.
"The speed of my opponent was a problem," he said.
"I could not work my right and the 40-plus kilos difference in weight is something you start to feel."
Valuev has still never been floored in 53 professional fights but was wobbled severely in a sensational last round.
Leaping up, Haye caught him flush with a left hook and as his legs buckled underneath him, it looked as if the seven-foot giant was on his way down.
He survived the scare but felt that was the moment the world title slipped from his grasp.
"It was all decided in that final round," he said. "It was clearly that last round."
K-bros next !
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