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For every Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard or Roy Jones Jr., moving about the ring with style, grace and fluidity, there's a Mark Gastineau or Ed "Too Tall" Jones, clinging onto the fringes while offering little to the sport, save for the prospect of exploiting themselves, and the public, in the cheap pursuit of a buck or two.
But the proverbial boxing sideshow has, almost without exception, been just that — relegated to the side, safely distanced from that which would be looked upon as substantive, important, or mainstream within the industry.
Is that in the process of changing? Has one of the circus acts emerged to the point where it is positioned front and center in the landscape of what is traditionally boxing's glamour division? And is it just a pathetic sign of the times in the depressed heavyweight picture?
These are the questions being asked in some corners of the fight game these days, inspired by the rise of a figure who may just be on the verge of boxing's Holy Grail.
Nikolay Valuev is a giant of a man, standing at 7-foot (by most accounts anyway) and regularly weighing in at over 320 pounds. Though many people may not be aware of it, he is currently the heavyweight champion of the world, at least as far as the World Boxing Association is concerned.
The former basketball player from St. Petersburg, Russia, who now fights out of Germany, won the title on Dec. 17 with a 12-round majority nod over John Ruiz, a decision that was hotly disputed by the Ruiz camp and many in the crowd, which had been overwhelming partisan toward Valuev when the night began.
Controversy or not, both his life and career are good for Valuev right now, and with plenty of opportunity staring at him, there is the chance to become a worldwide star if everything goes right from here. [details]
But the proverbial boxing sideshow has, almost without exception, been just that — relegated to the side, safely distanced from that which would be looked upon as substantive, important, or mainstream within the industry.
Is that in the process of changing? Has one of the circus acts emerged to the point where it is positioned front and center in the landscape of what is traditionally boxing's glamour division? And is it just a pathetic sign of the times in the depressed heavyweight picture?
These are the questions being asked in some corners of the fight game these days, inspired by the rise of a figure who may just be on the verge of boxing's Holy Grail.
Nikolay Valuev is a giant of a man, standing at 7-foot (by most accounts anyway) and regularly weighing in at over 320 pounds. Though many people may not be aware of it, he is currently the heavyweight champion of the world, at least as far as the World Boxing Association is concerned.
The former basketball player from St. Petersburg, Russia, who now fights out of Germany, won the title on Dec. 17 with a 12-round majority nod over John Ruiz, a decision that was hotly disputed by the Ruiz camp and many in the crowd, which had been overwhelming partisan toward Valuev when the night began.
Controversy or not, both his life and career are good for Valuev right now, and with plenty of opportunity staring at him, there is the chance to become a worldwide star if everything goes right from here. [details]