Russian giant Nikolai Valuev won the WBA heavyweight championship on Saturday night, using his left jab to outpoint American John Ruiz in a unanimous decision.
Confusion on the judges cards originally resulted in a split decision, but the outcome was later officially changed with the judges scoring it 116-113, 116-111 and 114-113 for Valuev.
The Russian (49-1) regained the title he lost to Ruslan Chagaev in April last year by beating Ruiz (43-8-1) for a second time.
PHOTO: EPA
WBA delegate John Pack said one of the officials, Japanese ringside judge Takeshi Shimakawa, alerted him after a split decision was announced that he had given the fight to Valuev.
Shimakawa said the confusion resulted because one of the cards had the names of the fighters in a different order. He scored it 114-113.
The decision was not popular with everyone in the Max Schmeling arena, where some of the crowd booed the outcome.
Valuev, with a massive advantage in height, weight and reach, also won a disputed decision over Ruiz in December 2005. The 2.13m Valuev weighed in at 144kg, while the 1.88 Ruiz was 108kg.
“I thought I won the fight,” Ruiz said. “I don’t know what was going with the scorecards.”
The cards were taken back and forth from the ring several times while the score was sorted out.
Ruiz and Valuev were given a title fight after the WBA declared Chagaev “champion in recess,” following an Achilles’ tendon injury that forced him to call off a rematch with the 35-year-old Valuev.
Valuev looked trimmer and quicker than in previous fights after changing his diet and training regime. He kept Ruiz at a distance with his left jab, but never delivered a punch that could shake the 36-year-old Ruiz.
Ruiz hurt Valuev with a right in the second, but the Russian recovered quickly. Every time Ruiz tried to get close, Valuev’s left jab would keep the American at bay and keep him from connecting with more than one punch at a time.
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