In the Heavyweight Wonderland of Riyadh, Nikolai Valuev was going to be a big star

Written by Steve Bunce

IT'S been 15 years since Nikolai Valuev lost to David Haye and went off to the Black Forest to hunt boar, bear and big sheep.

That night in Nuremberg, he lost for just the second time in 53 fights and left the ring without his WBA heavyweight belt; Haye was still celebrating when Valuev disappeared. There have been very few sightings since then, which is odd considering he is over seven feet tall and weighs around 25 stone now. I have only seen him once in my travels since that night.

He would have been an eligible fighter in Saudi Arabia's unofficial heavyweight league, one of only 20 or so fighters to ever fight at the Kingdom Arena. No place in history can compare to Kingdom Arena's dominance in such a short period of time; four big shows, an undisputed title fight and all in just eight months.

Also, maybe 18 heavyweights from the top 20 in the world so far have climbed the ropes. Make no mistake, the Beast can be a player. I would say that he is much stronger than Arslanbek Makhmudov, who was brutally exposed by Agit Kabayel in December; Makhmudov, at 6ft 6ins and 17 strikes in 18 wins, was being created as Beast II, which was an obvious move. Valuev would not fold as Makhmudov did.

That night back in 2009 when Valuev reached the end of his long, long career, I had arrived at 7pm and was leaving at 7am; travel, fighting and flying are all a blur. Thankfully, I had my Valuev chat in the bag. He was a lost soul, a great boy, and I had a soft spot for him.

He hated violence, he loved the works of Agatha Christie and bow hunting. He was not the first Soviet giant to be snatched at a young age and placed in one of the sports institutions.

He was at the end of the Soviet system that was disappearing, the system that produced champions in all sports. And it was a system that had no compassion or care for the thousands of castaways. Klitschko's boys were products of the same empire.

He tried basketball and as far as I know he still holds the under-19 discus record in Russia. When he was 20, a Soviet boxing professor named Oleg Shalaev began working with him. It was, as you can imagine, a slow process to make him a boxer.

His choice of fine art was based only on size, not on attitude. He quoted poetry, he was not a natural fighter. He married a ballerina; he loved art.

It was Kellie Maloney who gave him the name 'Isilo Sa Mpumalanga' (a few people nicknamed him) and eventually won the heavyweight title. Of course, there was a lot of Primo Carnera in the mix. In fairness, both Valuev and Carnera could fight, were brave and showed a lot of heart.

“People only cared about my size,” Valuev said. Carnera would have said the same, but he was not allowed to tell his story.

Haye was brutal in the weeks leading up to the fight and took every opportunity available to humiliate Valuev. He talked about her smell, her hair, and her slowness. However, secretly there is nothing small in his preparations for war.

During the night, Haye had the brawl read out several times by Adam Booth in his corner. Some of the pictures of the war look fake; Valuev is too big, and Haye made himself small at times. It was an event, trust me.

Haye helped sell the war; he made it an event to watch. It was popular at the time and that's down to what Haye could do – he sold his fights. After Valuev, he worked wonders with John Ruiz and Audley Harrison. It's easy to forget how great Haye was. It goes without saying that Haye in the Saudi mix would have been very interesting. “He's another idiot in boxing,” said Valuev.

Remember that at that time Haye was seen at the restaurant where the Klitschko boys were eating, wearing a T-shirt with a picture of him holding up the severed heads of the brothers. That's why 60,000 seats were sold out for his scheduled fight with Wladimir in Gelsenkirchen.

Boxing – Nikolai Valuev v David Haye WBA Heavyweight Title – Nuremberg Arena, Germany – 7/11/09

After Haye pulled out of the sold-out fight with Wlad, there was another scandal involving Klitschko, this time it was Vitali. It was suggested and suggested that on the day Valuev's fight was announced, Haye was about to agree – some say sign – to fight Vitali. Klitschko's rivalry with Haye is deep, and it was ugly. It was impossible to be bad about Valuev.

Memory can play tricks, but not in the context of Valuev's fight with Haye that night in Nuremberg. There followed an endless pattern of Haye walking, punching, swinging and ducking and Valuev trying to cut off the ring. Finally, Haye finally connected cleanly and Valuev was a punch away from going down with a bang. One judge came back with a decision, the other came from Haye. It was a tactical masterclass in many ways.

“I never said it would be good or easy to beat a giant,” said Haye in the end. He was right.