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07/10/2006
Nicolai Valuev TKO11 Monte Barrett... In his American coming out party, WBA heavyweight titlist Nicolai Valuev wasn't better than Monte Barrett, just bigger. Much bigger. The seven-foot, 328 pounder won by eleventh-round technical knockout in Rosemont, Illinois. Valuev didn't answer a lot questions about his ability, but he clearly won the bout and certainly boxing fans will want to see more of him, so the evening has to be viewed as a success for him. Valuev showed good conditioning and the ability to take clean punches, so his chances should not be dismissed against any heavyweight, no matter how slow his punches seem. Barrett came out brawling in the first round, landing flushly with some wild overhand shots that crashed harmlessly off Valuev's head, which (no offense) appears boulder-like in terms of size and hardness. A clubbing Valuev counter may have caused an off-balance Barrett's glove to touch the canvas, but it was not ruled a knockdown. After that, Barrett settled down and used his superior athleticism to counter the seven footer's 105-pound advantage. Given the size disparity, Barrett, who isn;t a big heavyweight to begin with, did the best he could and definitely was in the fight. By the seventh, Barrett began the inevitable, wearing down from constant grappling with Valuev. The Russian didn't land many clean punches, but the sheer power of even blocked blows wobbled Barrett, causing a knockdown in the eighth that really should have been a slip. In the ninth round, both Valuev and an exhausted Barrett landed several clean punches. By the eleventh, Barrett had no legs, and he went down twice, once even rolling under the ropes. Always the warrior, Barrett continued fighting and the referee unwisely allowed the bout to continue until Barrett's trainer James Bashir entered the ring to stop the bout. source: HBO
