FEATURE : Nikolai Valuev: a beast with the heart of a poet

Valuev, who steps over the ropes rather than between them to get to the ring, kept winning until he took his chance to win the WBA world title with a majority points decision over American John Ruiz in December 2005. After three defences, Valuev suffered the only blemish on his 16-year 51-fight professional record. Valuev blamed the wrong strategy for defeat to Uzbek Ruslan Chagaev on points in 2007 and has since been trained by Alexander Zimin.