What happened to Valuev on HBO?

[SacTown1]

Valuev is a disgrace fighting the likes of a shot, chinless fighter like Ettiene for his 41st fight. He´s the definition of a protected prospect waiting for a big payday. Watch Klitschko fight him after he beats Rahman.

Awesome post! If this guy was any good, he would have already competed against top-20 competition, but he hasn't, so he's obviously got a team around him who knows how lousy he really is

This is eerily similar to the Brian Nielsen situation from the late 90's, a guy who fights overseas, pads his record vs. has-been's and never-were's, then expects millions of dollars and a title shot, what a joke!

[!!Captain]

Here is what I read: Valuev could not fight in the USA due to the judgment against him for failure to perform - he could not get a visa to USA or something like that. So his USA management company got a judgement on him that he owes them a bunch of $$ and cannot fight in the US unless they manage it. Recently Valuev's lawyers sued the company and the judgment is no longer in effect so Valuev can fight in the USA now for the first time in something like 10 years.
Personally I don't think that anybody from top 10 will ever fight Valuev until he becomes a mandatory.
I also read that he had a back injury and that is why his fight was postponed.

[cupcrazy01]

Here is what I read: Valuev could not fight in the USA due to the judgment against him for failure to perform - he could not get a visa to USA or something like that. So his USA management company got a judgement on him that he owes them a bunch of $$ and cannot fight in the US unless they manage it. Recently Valuev's lawyers sued the company and the judgment is no longer in effect so Valuev can fight in the USA now for the first time in something like 10 years.
Personally I don't think that anybody from top 10 will ever fight Valuev until he becomes a mandatory.
I also read that he had a back injury and that is why his fight was postponed.

Good info and great avatar...

Saturday's fight wouldn't be in the US though, the fights are taking place in Germany, which is also where his fight on May 14 vs. Etienne is scheduled to take place...oh well, it's always fun to talk about Valuev since I've never seen him (other than photos)...for the sheer entertainment value I wanted to see him plod around the ring dwarfing some hopeless, hand-picked opponent--and to hear Lamps and Merchant talk about him...

That has me thinking, who will be the third man for the HBO team? Manny will be in Wlad's corner, and no way Roy goes over there (I wouldn't think)...it'll probably be just Lamps and Merchant I guess...

[joeboxer]

Here is what I read: Valuev could not fight in the USA due to the judgment against him for failure to perform - he could not get a visa to USA or something like that. So his USA management company got a judgement on him that he owes them a bunch of $$ and cannot fight in the US unless they manage it. Recently Valuev's lawyers sued the company and the judgment is no longer in effect so Valuev can fight in the USA now for the first time in something like 10 years.
Personally I don't think that anybody from top 10 will ever fight Valuev until he becomes a mandatory.
I also read that he had a back injury and that is why his fight was postponed.

Maybe Valuev couldn't fight in the U.S. but that doesn't explain why he didn't fight good competition. Danny Williams and both Klitchco's were over fighting in Germany too. He was actually could have fought one of the Klitchco's 4 years ago but he chose not to.

[joe kurtz]

I actually saw Valuev fight back in 1998 as part of the televised undercard to Oleg Maskaev's TKO over Courage Tshabalala. I can't recall which cable network broadcast it though.

Anyhow, Valuev fought a fairly competent journeyman heavyweight in James Gaines & won a 6 round decision over him. Dropping him once along the way.
And yes, Valuev DID appear just as massive as he's touted to be. He's most definitely the largest boxer I've ever seen. I remember being surprised that they actually found a glove that would fit him.
As for his skill level, it was technically correct, but very slow, deliberate & robotic ( though I hesitate to use the term because I think it tends to be quite overused when describing european fighters, but in this case it's accurate ). It was more than enough to defeat poor Gaines though, because he had absolutely no clue how to deal with Valuev's size & reach.
Valuev's power was nothing exceptional though.
I mean, his hands had the natural "heaviness" that one would expect from a fit athlete of nearly 400 lbs, but he had no snap to his shots, so they lacked the real concussive force of a true KO puncher.

As I said, that was seven years ago & Valuev has had about 25 additional fights since that time. So, I'm sure he's improved quite a bit. Whether it's enough for him to actually be a true world class fighter, I can't say. He's certainly beaten a better class of fighter over the past couple of years than I ever expected him to, but whether that's more attributed to his opponents puzzlement at how make any use of their own offense or whether he's actually developed skills, I can't say.
At 40-0 though, I would imagine that he's rapidly closing in on the "crap or get off the pot" stage of his career. So, if he gets past "The Black Rhyno" like everyone expects him to, I'd expect to see him on television in the US sometime soon.

[AintGottaClue]

That has me thinking, who will be the third man for the HBO team? Manny will be in Wlad's corner, and no way Roy goes over there (I wouldn't think)...it'll probably be just Lamps and Merchant I guess...

ya it will be. what happened to george foreman he get fired frm hbo? i thoguth roy got fired also but he just did pac-morales. i miss foreman

[!!Captain]

Maybe Valuev couldn't fight in the U.S. but that doesn't explain why he didn't fight good competition. Danny Williams and both Klitchco's were over fighting in Germany too. He was actually could have fought one of the Klitchco's 4 years ago but he chose not to.

I think that Valuev had only 30 amature fights before he turned pro. I think that he was still learning for a good part of his career.

[enadeus]

Valuev would destroy Toney the Phoney.