Ivan Drago

Holy Rocky IV! If you thought Dolph Lundgren was a big fella (6'5" and 236lbs.) meet Mr. Nikolay Valuev. Mr. Valuev is the 17th ranked fighter in the WBA and is set to fight John Ruiz for the WBA Heavyweight Title on December 17th, 2005. Here are some important vitals on Nikolay for reference:

• Height--7'0"
• Weight--324 3/4 lbs. (As of last fight, 10/01/05)
• Reach--85" (If you are not a boxing fan this is a huge advantage)
• Record--42-0 (31 ko's)
• DOB--8/21/73
• Hometown--St. Petersburg, Russia

Comparable vitals for Mr. Ruiz:

• Height--6'2"
• Weight--241 lbs. (As of last fight, 04/30/05)
• Reach--78"
• Record--41-5-1 (28 ko's)
• DOB--01/04/72
• Hometown--Methuen, MA (USA)

The amazing thing is that this is an enormous mis-match not due to size but style. Mr. Ruiz is what is called a "clutcher" meaning he looks to hang on in fights and essentially wear out opponents by utilizing body shots. Mr. Valuev is not a clutcher at all as he uses his height and reach to his advantage but he DOES not have a knock out punch. His fights generally are all across the board in regards to how long they last and how they end.

On the size front also take a look at the above photo and note that Mr. Valuev is fighting Mr. Clifford Etienne who goes 6'2" and was fighting at 217lbs. in this photo. If you are a boxing fan or just a fan of a good semi-freak show this one might be worth tuning in for.