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THE TALLEST HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP EVER DEFENDS HIS TITLE LIVE SATURDAY, OCT. 7.
THE TALLEST HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP EVER DEFENDS HIS TITLE LIVE SATURDAY, OCT. 7.
Sept. 1, 2006
A larger-than-life heavyweight champion from Russia makes his HBO debut when WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: NIKOLAI VALUEV VS. MONTE BARRETT AND TOMASZ ADAMEK VS. PAUL BRIGGS is seen live from Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill. on SATURDAY, OCT. 7 (10:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. PT). The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant and Emanuel Steward will be ringside for the event, which will be available in HDTV, as well as closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish language on HBO Latino.
HBO2 playdates: Oct. 8 (10:00 a.m., 4:30 p.m.) and 10 (11:50 p.m.). Times are ET/PT.
At seven feet tall and 320 pounds, Nikolai "The Russian Giant" Valuev (44-0, 32 KOs), from St. Petersburg, Russia, is the tallest and heaviest heavyweight champ in history. Promoted as more of a sideshow than a boxer early in his career, he has started to shed the novelty tag in his last three fights. Scoring a unanimous decision victory over slick Larry Donald in October 2005, Valuev got his first shot at the title when he faced John Ruiz for a heavyweight belt two months later. While Ruiz' experience and relentless style made him the favorite, Valuev proved himself with a unanimous decision win. Since that triumph, Valuev, 33, has defended his title once, earning a TKO victory against Owen Beck on June 3. This fight marks just his third appearance on American soil.
Although he gives up nine inches to his Russian opponent, Monte Barrett (31-4, 17 KOs), of Queens, will be highly motivated by the challenge. While carving out a solid career, he has never been able to break through for that one marquee victory. Barrett has shown the ability to take punches and put together effective combinations of his own, most notably in his win over Owen Beck, who was undefeated at the time. A victory over Valuev in their 12-round bout would give Barrett a title and the validation he has sought throughout his decade-long career.
The opening bout also decides a title, as Tomasz Adamek (30-0, 21 KOs) of Bielsko Biala, Poland defends his light heavyweight crown in a much-anticipated rematch with Paul Briggs (25-2, 18 KOs) of Sydney, Australia. The bout takes place 17 months after their first encounter, which took place at the United Center on the west side of Chicago. In an all-out slugfest that went the full 12 rounds, Adamek narrowly defeated his counterpart with a majority-decision victory, claiming the vacated title in a bout that was instantly dubbed a "fight of the year" candidate. Both fighters enter the rematch determined to strengthen their rankings in the deep 175-pound division.
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Originally Posted by TheBESTP4P
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