82 Facts About Ruslan Chagaev

Ruslan Chagaev held the WBA heavyweight title twice and was the first Asian boxer to win a world heavyweight title by any of the four major sanctioning bodies.

Ruslan Chagaev was ranked in the world's top 10 heavyweights by BoxRec from 2004 to 2013, reaching a career high ranking of third from 2005 to 2007, and as a top 10 heavyweight or contender by The Ring magazine at the conclusion of each year between 2006 and 2015.

Ruslan Chagaev is one of a few professional boxers to resume his amateur boxing career after a few professional bouts in 1997.

Ruslan Chagaev was reinstated as an amateur by the AIBA the following year as his professional bouts were declared exhibitions.

In 2007, Ruslan Chagaev defeated then-unbeaten Nikolai Valuev to win his first WBA heavyweight title and would make two successful defences.

Ruslan Chagaev went on to suffer his first professional loss in the same year to unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Ruslan Chagaev won the WBA heavyweight title by defeating Fres Oquendo in 2014.

Ruslan Chagaev made one successful defence before losing the title to Lucas Browne in 2016.

Ruslan Chagaev won gold at the 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships heavyweight, defeating Felix Savon in the finals, but later he was stripped of the championship for having 2 professional bouts in the United States before the tournament.

Ruslan Chagaev is the only non-Cuban boxer to defeat Felix Savon twice, and the only one to do it at the world championships, which Savon have won consecutively.

Ruslan Chagaev had a few professional bouts while competing as an amateur.

Ruslan Chagaev made his professional debut on 21 August 1997, defeating Donnie Penelton by first-round knockout.

Ruslan Chagaev returned to professional boxing in 2001, beating an experienced journeyman Everett Martin on 21 September by fourth-round technical knockout, in what was Chagaev's first and only professional fight in his native Uzbekistan.

The bout was part of the event that was aired on USA FOX, meaning this was Ruslan Chagaev's first televised professional boxing match.

Ruslan Chagaev made a quick work of Smith, dropping him three times in the first round, with Smith not being able to beat the count after the third knockdown.

Ruslan Chagaev appeared to have won the first two rounds and was seemingly going for an early stoppage.

Originally Ruslan Chagaev was supposed to be declared the winner by third-round TKO, however the decision was overturned after it was established that the wound had been caused by a headbutt.

Graham was active in the first half of each round but Ruslan Chagaev was blocking most of the shots with arms and gloves.

Ruslan Chagaev staggered Graham again at the end of the following round, and then again in the third, with the referee stopping the bout after Graham could not respond to a barrage of shots that followed.

Ruslan Chagaev admitted that his decision to sign the contract with German promoters was caused by the fact that in the United States he had only had four fights in two years and his career there hadn't had any clear direction.

The first round was tentative, with Ruslan Chagaev finding most success with counter shots primarily to the body.

Ruslan Chagaev continued fighting in a counterpunching manner in the second round, ultimately dropping Fields with a left hook behind the ear and throwing off his equilibrium.

Fields got up but Ruslan Chagaev continued his assault, hurting Fields on several occasions and dropping him again with 27 seconds left.

Fields barely beat the count, prompting the referee to stop the fight after Fields started running towards Ruslan Chagaev and did not react to his instructions.

One month later, Ruslan Chagaev faced Garing Lane in a bout scheduled for eight rounds.

Ruslan Chagaev dominated every round before ultimately stopping Lane with two left hooks to the body in the fifth.

Ruslan Chagaev finished 2004 with three stoppage wins over Willie Williams, Asmir Vojnovic and Tommy Connelly.

From 2005, Ruslan Chagaev's fights were placed on cards televised by ZDF.

Ruslan Chagaev started 2005 with a fight against Sherman Williams on 26 March at Erdgas Arena.

Ruslan Chagaev has a very attentive realization for the right moment to throw a knockout punch.

Ruslan Chagaev is willing to take great risks inside the ring.

Ruslan Chagaev is looking for openings and lands his punches there.

Ruslan Chagaev must convince spectators and experts that he is world class material.

Shortly after, because of the events that took place in his native Andijan, Ruslan Chagaev took a break from boxing to return to Uzbekistan and look after his family.

Ruslan Chagaev returned to the ring six months later on September 28,2005, to face Jucimar Francisco Hipolito as part of the card dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of former world heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, with the main event of the night being the WBO world heavyweight title fight between Luan Krasniqi and Lamon Brewster.

Three weeks later, Ruslan Chagaev took on Mark Krence, dropping him twice in fourth and once in fifth before the bout was stopped, with Ruslan Chagaev being declared the winner by 5th-round KO.

At the beginning of 2006, Ruslan Chagaev agreed for a rematch against Rob Calloway as a late-minute replacement for Alexander Dimitrenko who had to withdraw due to shoulder injury.

The first round was action-packed, with Ruslan Chagaev fighting mostly in a counterpunching manner.

Thirty seconds into the first round, as Calloway attempted to close distance, Ruslan Chagaev hurt him with a left hook followed by a straight right hand, forcing Calloway to stumble across the ring.

Ruslan Chagaev hurt Calloway a few more times as the round progressed, throwing him out of position on several occasions.

Two months after his rematch with Calloway, Ruslan Chagaev stepped in to face undefeated Ukrainian prospect and former stablemate of his Vladimir Virchis for the WBO and WBA Inter-Continental titles.

Ruslan Chagaev was ranked No 14 contender by the WBA and No 8 by the WBO, right behind Chagaev in each ranking.

Ruslan Chagaev is a better boxer; he has better technique.

Ruslan Chagaev always gives it all during training, whether his coach watches him or not.

The bout went full twelve rounds, with Ruslan Chagaev eventually winning a close decision.

Ruslan Chagaev outlanded Virchis in rounds 1,4,7,8 and 11; Virchis landed more shots in rounds 2,3,5,10 and 12; rounds 6 and 9 were even.

Four months after defeating Virchis, Ruslan Chagaev faced Michael Sprott.

Ruslan Chagaev dominated the fight before ultimately stopping Sprott in the eighth round, defending his WBA Inter-Continental title and winning WBO's vacant Asia Pacific title.

Ruslan Chagaev became the mandatory challenger for a shot at Nikolai Valuev, the WBA heavyweight champion at the time.

Valuev was sat ringside and believed Ruslan Chagaev was the rightful winner.

Ruslan Chagaev eventually reached agreement to fight WBA world heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev on 14 April 2007 at the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Germany.

Ruslan Chagaev became more aggressive in the middle rounds, going more often to the body to make his left hooks to the head less readable.

Between the tenth and eleventh rounds, Valuev's coach Manvel Gabrielyan was visibly angry with his boxer's reluctance to throw more punches, particularly a straight right, threatening to "throw a bottle" at Valuev and leave the ring if Valuev didn't step up his aggression; however, Valuev's attempts to be more aggressive and finish the match inside the distance seemed to have little effect as Ruslan Chagaev won most of the exchanges and often caught Valuev on counterattacks.

Ruslan Chagaev won the fight and WBA title via a majority decision.

Ruslan Chagaev dedicated his victory to the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov.

Ruslan Chagaev awarded me with the Order of Outstanding Merit, my promoter Klaus-Peter Kohl received the Jasorat Medal, my manager Taimaz Niyazov received the Shuhrat Medal.

Shortly after winning the title, Ruslan Chagaev signed the contract to face then-WBO world heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov in a unification showdown that would take place in Moscow on 13 October 2007.

When talking about negotiations, president of Seminole Warriors Boxing promotion company Leon Margules described them as "the easiest negotiations of his career", praising both Ibragimov and Ruslan Chagaev for being straightforward during the negotiation process.

Ruslan Chagaev predicted the winner of this fight to eventually become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

On 31 July 2007, it was officially announced that the unification showdown was cancelled due to Ruslan Chagaev suffering from an aggravation of gastric problems.

However, the fight had to be cancelled after Ruslan Chagaev suffered a complete tear of an Achilles tendon during his final sparring session in preparation for the defense, causing Ruslan Chagaev's second postponement of the match.

Ruslan Chagaev returned from injury on 7 February 2009 to fight the then-unbeaten Costa Rican Carl Davis Drumond.

Ruslan Chagaev sustained a cut from an unintentional clash of heads in the third round.

Ruslan Chagaev was taken to hospital after the fight for treatment.

Ruslan Chagaev agreed to step in for Haye as a last-minute replacement.

On 24 July 2009, when the WBA published their Official Ratings as of June 2009, Ruslan Chagaev was no longer the "Champion in Recess" but the No 1 challenger instead.

Ruslan Chagaev fought Kali Meehan on 22 May 2010, in a WBA heavyweight title eliminator at the Stadthalle in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.

Ruslan Chagaev dominated the fight but slowed down in the later rounds, allowing Meehan to have some success; by that point, Ruslan Chagaev was comfortably winning on points.

On 6 July 2011 negotiations for Ruslan Chagaev to fight Russian heavyweight contender Alexander Povetkin for the vacant title began between Sauerland, who promote Povetkin, and Ruslan Chagaev's promoter Universum.

At the time of the bout, Ruslan Chagaev was ranked No 4 heavyweight contender by The Ring, while Povetkin was ranked No 3 contender by the same publication.

Ruslan Chagaev insisted that the medical examination had confirmed that his opponents weren't in danger of being infected.

Ruslan Chagaev regained composure in the middle rounds, hurting tired Povetkin several times with clubbing left hooks.

Towards the end of the month, Ruslan Chagaev spoke out denying any rumours that he was interested in a fight with Pulev.

Ruslan Chagaev instead stated that he was closing in on a deal to fight undefeated Cuban Luis Otiz in the fall of 2013.

Ruslan Chagaev claimed the vacant title via majority decision after 12 rounds in a tough battle.

Ruslan Chagaev controlled most of the fight with his constant jab and later in the fight started connecting with body shots.

Ruslan Chagaev was then dropped again following two more lefts.

On 14 November 2015, the WBA ordered Ruslan Chagaev to reach a deal to make a defence of his WBA title against Australian heavyweight contender Lucas Browne.

Ruslan Chagaev is of Volga Tatar ethnicity and an adherent of Islam.

Ruslan Chagaev is married to Viktoria, an ethnic Armenian, who is from Andijan.

Around the time shortly after winning the world title, several news reported that Ruslan Chagaev was having an affair with Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

Ruslan Chagaev publicly received its home shirt from the club's president Josef Schnusenberg.