Where was boxer Nikolai Valuev born? What Nikolai Valuev was like as a child: photos and videos

The famous boxer, the first Russian professional world champion, was born on August 21, 1973. Kolya Valuev’s height at birth was quite normal - 52 cm. However, subsequently, in terms of this indicator, the boy significantly outperformed his peers. Interestingly, he is the only one in his family who has such a genetic anomaly.

An unusual child

Valuev was 30-40 centimeters taller than his school peers. His height in first grade was 1 meter 60 centimeters (the boy turned out to be taller class teacher). In the sixth, the boy left even the high school students behind: 1 meter 96 centimeters. Nikolai grew up agile, strong, but at the same time calm and kind.

Thanks to my father, I fell in love with fishing and learned to read the classics for the rest of my life. Valuev Jr. always considered his dad an indisputable authority. He was a very respectable and good-natured man. He taught his son by his own example even in difficult situation not to go into conflict, but with a fair amount of self-irony (in the words of the classic) “to laugh out of trouble.”

Introduction to sports

In the 80s, many parents sent their children to sport sections. Nikolai began his journey into big-time sports with basketball, then took up athletics. In the 7th grade, a guy with obvious talent went to study at the Leningrad sports boarding school No. 62. While studying and participating in competitions, he became a prize-winner of the USSR championship in discus throwing.

However, neither the well-deserved sports titles nor the coaching diploma received by the future champion in the 90s promised the future champion any special prospects in life.

At this stage, Nikolai Valuev happily avoided the dangerous temptation (dubious people tried to attract an athlete with a textured appearance to participate in “shooters.”) Fortunately, fate soon gave him a more realistic chance to make a decision in life.

First boxing lessons

At the invitation of coach Oleg Shalaev, Nikolai Valuev, who was out of work, came to the boxing section. The athlete’s growth reached its peak at that time highest point- 2 meters 13 centimeters. It was the anthropometry of a basketball player rather than a fighter.

Boxing, for a calm, non-conflict guy, initially turned out to be stressful. For Valuev, throughout his boxing career, the problem of the first strike was significant. Coaches told him more than once: “First they’ll hit you, and then you start fighting!” Nikolai Valuev was forced to overcome his character and learn to defend himself. His fighting style organically began “on defense.” Even then, it became clear to his coach Oleg Shalaev: Nikolai would continue to demonstrate such boxing. Valuev has always been distinguished by his sportive spirit and gentleness in the ring.

This first stage of his career left its mark on the life of the future champion. At the very first training sessions, he was paired with an international master of sports, who forever “gave” the champion a mark - a broken nose. Looking ahead, let's say that 11 years of cooperation connected boxer Nikolai Valuev with coach Oleg Shalaev. During this time, the newcomer entered the top ten best heavyweights in the world.

In the professional ring

In the very first year of his boxing lessons, Nikolai Valuev was supposed to go to his first professional boxing tournament in Germany. However, two days before the fight, his dad died of heart disease. The athlete promised his family to dedicate his first fight to his father.

The career of the Russian professional boxer began with a resounding victory over his opponent. On the eve of the fight with the experienced John Mortan (40 professional fights), Nikolai did not sleep, and after the fight his temperature rose.

In the same year, Nikolai won silver at the championships in St. Petersburg and Russia. From 1994 to 1996, the athlete had only five fights in the professional ring, but unimportant ones, since his opponents were unrated.

About the wedding of Nikolai Valuev

In 1998 he met his future wife. By chance, they were seated next to each other at a party held by mutual friends. The cheerful girl began to look after the “biggest boxer in the world” at the table, treating him first to one dish, then to another... The young people began to meet. At that time, Nikolai lived with his coach and promoter. He could meet with Galina only on Thursdays and on weekends.

Valuev’s wife says with a smile that she personally never received a marriage proposal from the future champion; instead, Nikolai invited her dad to the bathhouse, where he announced that he would marry his daughter. Coming out of the bathhouse, the men, to the surprise of the ladies, began seriously planning the wedding. By the way, on the second day after the celebration, Nikolai and his father-in-law went hunting...

Further boxing career

In 1999, after a professional fight with Alexei Osokin, Valuev became the champion of Russia. And on June 6, 2000, Nikolai won the title of champion of the Pan-Asian Boxing Association, defeating the Ukrainian Yuri Elistratov, and in 2002 he defended this title.

Relationships that have passed all tests

The years 2002-2003 became a real test for the Valuev family. Due to the position of Nikolai’s manager at the time (he did not allow him to compete), the boxer remained unemployed for a long time; for several years they did not have money even for basic necessities. After a couple of months, almost all friends, except for one single neighbor, stopped lending money to the Valuevs. It is characteristic that during all those difficult months, Valuev’s wife, Galya, never reproached her husband.

Subsequently, already performing in Germany under the leadership of Wilfird Sauerland, Nikolai repaid his debts to friends who had previously helped out his family (at that time Nikolai already had his first son, Grisha),

Professional contract

On July 26, 2004, the Russian boxer became the WBA intercontinental champion. The victory, which had a clear advantage, was overshadowed by Nikolai’s not entirely “clean” blow to the back of the head of the Nigerian Bango. However, the referee did not notice him.

Soon, boxer Nikolai Valuev signed a contract with an American boxing company. The Russian had to fight his first championship fight in December 2005 in Germany. The legendary champion Mohamed Ali was also among the audience at the fight.

The Russian faced a difficult and “sticky” opponent - John Ruiz, who stubbornly opposed him throughout all 12 rounds. This battle had its own drama. Nikolai Valuev, being right-handed, fought with an unhealed fracture of his right hand. Therefore, the Russian athlete fought, essentially, “with one left hand” and, in spite of everything, managed to win on points.

Subsequently, the Russian champion successfully defended three times high title. However, on April 14, 2007, he was selected by the Uzbek boxer Ruslan Chagaev.

Then Chagaev was injured, and, according to WBA rules, Valuev had to have a rematch for the title of “interim champion” with John Ruiz. In this fight, which took place on August 30, 2008, the Russian confidently won. On December 20, 2008, Nikolai defended the title in a fight against the eminent challenger Evander Holyfield.

In 2009, Valuev officially received the WBA heavyweight champion title. On November 7, 2009, he lost it, having been defeated by the British David Haye.

In total, during his career in the professional ring, boxer Nikolai Valuev fought fifty fights. Of these, he won 48, including becoming a two-time super heavyweight champion. He met different opponents. If a boxer finished his first fights in 2 rounds, then professional battles required dedication and left injuries. It is obvious that Valuev experienced difficulties in fights with fast and technical punchers. Height and weight affected the athlete’s mobility and reaction.

Our hero had his own tradition: before the battle, Nikolai Valuev invariably went to his small homeland to stand at his father’s grave.

Why Nikolai left boxing

Nikolai Sergeevich stopped performing at the age of 36. For him, farewell to sports came unexpectedly. In 2009, a 15-year contract with German promoter Wilfried Sauerland ended. The athlete was worried about knee and back injuries.

Boxer Nikolai Valuev, still in Germany, decided to undergo a thorough medical examination there. Unexpectedly, on a tomography, doctors discovered a brain tumor, fortunately, benign. If he decided to continue his boxing career, the athlete could die, possibly right in the ring. Nikolai did not feel fear of the uncertainty of the future; farewell to sports seemed inevitable to him.

Fortunately, the brain surgery was successful.

Valuev's parliament

Nikolai Sergeevich was elected to the Duma of the Russian Federation by the people of Kuzbass. If you ask his voter: “What catches the viewer’s eye when Valuev is behind the podium?” “Height, perhaps,” he will answer jokingly, but then he will add that the ex-champion does have live contact with his voters. Indeed, the ex-champion travels a lot around the region. He is one of ten deputies who represents Kemerovo region in the State Duma.

Valuev is a member of the Duma Committee on Sports and youth policy and is competent in issues in all areas of his work. Also, having a long-term corresponding hobby, he participates in the Duma working group according to the hunting law.

Valuev’s wife, Galina, jokes that sometimes in the kitchen she informs Nikolai of the people’s voice on government issues, for example, on increased fines for driving violations. In an interview, she mischievously assures that she will not let “her Kolya” become a cynic.

Family and Children

The family of the famous champion has three children: son Grisha, born in 2002, daughter Irina, born in 2007, son Sergei, born in 2012. Nikolai Valuev's children adore their father, sometimes jokingly calling him Shrek. That’s what his daughter Ira once called him when she was very little. The situation, I must say, was quite comical. Once, when there were guests in the house, she opened a magazine with pictures of comics offered to her and, noticing a cartoon Shrek there, loudly asked her mother: “Who is this? Dad?"

For many Russians, Nikolai Valuev can serve as an example of not only an athlete, but also a family man. Nikolai Valuev takes his eldest son fishing with him on weekends, as his father, whom Grinya never saw, once did.

Conclusion

This one is big and very a kind person Nowadays he devotes his time to youth and sports policy in Russia. The ex-world champion is charismatic, but his judgments are balanced and thorough. He's popular. Many famous agencies want to see him in their advertising.

Nikolai Valuev does not go on vacation abroad, having once and for all chosen nature for his vacation native land. As a person he is very popular. Most Russians know the height and weight of the world's largest politician Valuev (213 cm and 160 kg).

Nikolai Valuev, unsurpassed in strength and size! His height is 216 cm. Today he has world-famous nicknames: Russian Giant, Nikola Pitersky, Beast from the East, Kolya the Sledgehammer and Stone Head.

short biography

Nikolai Valuev - "Russian Giant" was born on August 21, 1973 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) into a family of ordinary factory workers. Parents could not even imagine that their only beloved son would become the owner of such extraordinary, rare and unusual physical characteristics. They themselves are of normal average height. And their son Nikolai was born small.

Also in 2010, Valuev entered into a contract (advertising) with the poker portal Pokerstars. And here he is going to achieve success in the game of poker.

Nikolai Valuev is popular due to his impressive size and appearance. Height and weight played a positive and decisive role in his life. In addition to everything that he achieved, he also acquired the famous above-mentioned nicknames.

Nikolai's hobbies free time- fishing and hunting.

Why is he doing all this? He says that he wants to get out of the image, that he does not like to put himself in certain frames.

It doesn’t matter how tall Valuev is. More importantly, Nikolai Valuev is known throughout boxing, a fairly successful showman and a good deputy of the Russian State Duma. During his life, he became not only the strongest, heaviest and tallest fighter in the entire history of world boxing, but also the first Russian athlete to win among all world professionals high rank world champion in WBA.

He is like that - he does not fit within the boundaries. The tallest of the world champions. The most successful Russian heavyweight. The first athlete whom MH addresses in an interview as “you” (you never know). Here are just some of Nikolai Valuev's records, with his comments.

214
...centimeters- such is the height of Nikolai Valuev and, accordingly, the span of his arms. One of Valuev’s fights looked like this: he simply put his glove forward, his opponent jumped around helplessly and refused to continue the fight. But you have to pay for such an advantage: “You dig a long pillar and a short one next to it. Will blow good wind, big pillar will experience much greater loads. And it is more likely to break faster than a short one. These are the laws of physics. And the laws of physics also apply in boxing. The back, knees, spine are wearing out (Valuev has already had both knees operated on - mh). When playing a lot of sports, anyone should be prepared for injuries. This is not fitness, big sport will not improve your health...”
Valuev moves measuredly and speaks in a deep, calm voice. While changing his trousers (still filming), at some point he gets tangled in the legs and begins to slowly fall to the side, like a cut down oak tree. Maintaining such height and weight on one leg is not easy.

15
...fights Valuev spent his time in the amateur ring, coming to boxing at the age of 20 and in just six months fulfilling the standard of a master of sports. “It’s very fast,” says boxing expert and columnist for the Sport-Express newspaper Alexander Belenky. - And of course, Valuev was helped in this regard by his unique dimensions. People simply didn’t know how to box with such a person. An ordinary boxer spends incomparably more time on this. He starts training at the age of 10, and when he becomes a master of sports, he may have already had more than a hundred fights. It’s a completely different preparation.”
A promising boxer will first live out his entire amateur career to the end, in a good situation he will become a world champion or an Olympic champion and will come to the status of a professional as a ready-made star and a seasoned fighter. Valuev, succumbing to the persuasion of his coach Oleg Shalaev, decided to bypass this stage.

12
…years as a result, it took Nikolai Valuev to enter the major league of world boxing. Years passed, Valuev even won somewhere, but was always on the periphery. Only in 2005, having changed both coach and manager, he entered the ring in Berlin against John Ruiz and became the WBA world champion. The Russian Giant (or the Beast from the East) is the tallest and most heavy champion in the history of boxing. The World Boxing Association didn't even have a championship belt of the appropriate size. The belt had to be sewn to order.

148
...kilograms- this is the weight of a boxer. If we apply the well-known Brock formula (“height in cm minus 110 plus 10%”), taking into account Valuev’s hypersthenic body type, then Nikolai’s ideal weight is 114.4 kg. But that would be if he didn’t play sports.
The boxer sits on a chair in the MH studio with doubt, the furniture creaks and crackles.
- Have you broken many chairs during your career?
- Probably at least five.
- How much do you need to eat to maintain this shape?
- If I like some kind of soup, I can eat a lot of it, but then I won’t eat the second one. I could easily eat a huge salad bowl of soup. I love ice cream, but not candy.
- Nikolay, imagine, you wake up at night, go to the kitchen, look in the refrigerator, and there are only three kilograms of sausage...
- If there are three kilos of sausage, and I’m very hungry, the problem is solved. It will even remain.

12
...pull-ups- this is Valuev’s record: “I wasn’t very good with the horizontal bar before, 12-15 times, but now, due to injuries, I’m careful with pull-ups, I don’t go for the record.” In push-ups, the boxer also does not rely on quantity. “You can do a hundred push-ups in one approach. But these are short, incorrect ones. I prefer to do 10-15 push-ups on your fists or on your fingers in one approach, but the right ones: when your body doesn’t move, when your chest touches the floor. And then - the longer the arms, the more difficult it is to press.”

241
…joke in the archive of the site “Anecdotes from Russia” (anekdot.ru) contains keyword“Valuev.” Here, for example: “At night, thieves entered Nikolai Valuev’s apartment and suffered everything - beatings, fear, pain and humiliation.” In addition, the boxer appears in 38 funny stories, 7 aphorisms and 16 poems. Valuev regards this with carefully disguised pleasure: “Thank you for composing, this is popular recognition. I used to even collect these jokes on the computer, but the secretary accidentally erased them.”

3
…free boxing schools Nikolay Valuev has already opened for children and adults in St. Petersburg and the region. There are two more in the pipeline in the northwestern region and one in Sochi. In addition, since 2007, a youth boxing tournament for the Valuev Cup has been held: “We give the winners prizes that are not even available at adult championships. In addition to commemorative cups, certificates, medals and tracksuits, there are three nominations: “The will to win”, “ The best technique" And " Best boxer” - 10,000 rubles each. winner. Of course, this caused a storm of emotions in amateur boxing - they don’t pay anything at all.”

5
...guns in the arsenal of hunter Nikolai Valuev. Favorite gun - Sauer carbine: “I always wanted a carbine made for me, and they made it to order for me. My other guns are standard, but this one has a stock that fits my hand and is comfortable for my fingers.” If you want to learn more about the activities of the boxer-hunter, look in the 2010 edition of the “Hunting Yard” magazine for a series of articles by Nikolai Valuev “For quails in Armenia.”

3
“I am the first world heavyweight champion from Russia. Yes it is. It was and was. I don't live by this, it's already the past. Someday, when I become an old grandfather, I will tell my grandchildren how cool I was. But when the time comes. Now I have so many things ahead of me. I'm young, lots of energy. When a person begins to think about what he has already done, what merits he has, this is either vanity or crazy pride. I have neither one nor the other. Of course, I have not yet set all the records I would like to. Galya will give birth to a third, and then that’s it.”

47
...fights Valuev went undefeated - he was two victories short of the record of the legendary Rocky Marciano. And no one has ever managed to knock Valuev down. “The point is not that I take a hit well, but that I didn’t hit well,” explains Valuev. - Everyone's head is the same. And if they really hit you in the painful spot, you will fall.” Sports journalist Alexander Belenky still believes that they hit: “In the last fight with David Haye in the 12th round, Valuev missed such a blow that anyone in his place would have fallen. But he has one of the strongest jaws in the current heavyweight division. Or maybe the strongest. But still, there is not a single boxer who is forever immune from a knockout.”

8
...sandwiches with homemade pate, prepared by the wife of the art director of MH, Nikolai Valuev ate during the shoot of the cover. Along the way, the Beast from the East was interested in details: “How do you manage to get rid of lumps?”
“I love to cook, but often I don’t have enough time,” the boxer admits. Here is one of Valuev’s favorite recipes - “khorovats”: “We used to call it vegetable caviar. We grill vegetables - tomatoes, eggplants, sweet peppers. Then remove the skin, chop finely, and mix into porridge. Add chopped green onions, basil, parsley, dill, salt and a piece of butter. I also like to add hot green peppers, also baked. The Armenians taught me how to do it, I really like it.”

44,9
...kilogram was the difference in weight between challenger David Haye (98.4 kg) and WBA champion Nikolai Valuev (143.3 kg) in a fight that took place on November 7, 2009. Valuev lost this fight. The Russian Giant's performances in the ring often resemble hunting flies: a fly swatter the size of a stool flies towards the target, but at the last moment the annoying insect dodges and bites back. Expert Alexander Belenky claims: technically Valuev is a normally trained boxer. “It just doesn’t happen high speed at these sizes. The speed drops sharply after two meters of growth. At the same time, you seem to look at NBA basketball players - oh, how fast they are all. But there is a completely different type of muscle there. Yes, they have huge muscles, but this is not a boxer's physique - thinner bones. It’s not for nothing that many basketball players boasted that they would switch to boxing and easily punch everyone in the face, but for some reason no one did this.”

4
...feature films with the participation of Nikolai Valuev have already been filmed (“The Path”, the series “Game without Rules”, “Stone Head”, “Seven Dwarfs: Even the Whole Forest is Not Enough”), another project is in line: “There is already a script. This is an action game, we can’t say the name yet.” And the Russian Giant is not going to stop there. “In principle, cinema is interesting to me: as self-expression, as work, as a process in general. All this suits me.” Valuev calls his life goal not to return the championship belt, but to act in a good movie.
- It seems that it just happened this way: I took up boxing, spent a lot of time on it - well, don’t give up what you started, work is work. If you could earn decent money doing something else, would you never take up boxing?
“That’s all true,” Valuev smiles.

Text: Andrey Zolotov
Photo: Itar-Tass, Photoxpress, Legion-Media, Reuters

Valuev Nikolai Sergeevich, professional boxer, was born on August 21, 1973 in St. Petersburg. Became the first Russian WBA world heavyweight champion in December 2005. Height - 213 cm, weight - 148 kg... Authors of sports encyclopedias usually get off with such dry lines. But can numbers (even such large ones as 213) convey the materiality of this little man, the scale of his talent? Nikolai Valuev is a cult figure, the hero of sports reports and jokes. A living refutation of the thesis that humanity is getting smaller!

His fans, whose number is growing every year, are often perplexed: how could parents of normal height (father - 170 cm, mother - 168 cm) produce such a giant? Already in the first grade, Kolya was head and shoulders taller than his teacher, and he was mistaken for a repeat student. When something broke at school, everyone immediately thought of Kolya Valuev. As a rule, in vain.

Of course, the boy was sent to sports. From the age of twelve, Valuev played basketball, but under the backboard he lacked coordination. Then he went into athletics, throwing discus. He became a national medalist, although due to his enormous height he fell out of the throwing circle. As a result, Valuev entered the Institute of Physical Education, the boxing department. “This sport is not for you, Kolya! - they told him. – Starting a boxing career at twenty years old is pointless. You’ll just be wasting your time.”

But Valuev did not allow himself to be intimidated: he graduated from the department, quickly moved from amateurs to professionals and ended up in a vicious circle. For ten years he traveled around the planet (Australia, Japan, USA), entering the ring with “bags” - that’s what weak opponents are called in slang. His rating did not grow, no money was added. The breakthrough came only at the end of 2003, when the famous German promoter Wilfred Sauerland began working with the giant. As a result, Valuev became world champion. I just couldn't help but become. It is not clear how it was even possible to defeat this giant, if most of his opponents, as a rule, are breathing down his armpit? In the title fight, Valuev beat American John Ruiz with one left. No kidding: right hand Nikolai was injured shortly before the fight, but this was carefully hidden.

Three times, like in a fairy tale, Valuev defended his championship title. But on April 14 of this year, the heavens fell to earth, snow began to fall in the Maldives, and Valuev lost a fight for the first time in his life. Ruslan Chagaev turned out to be lucky. He was inferior to Nikolai in height by 20 cm, but gained his strength due to his technique. The judges gave “White Tyson” the victory on points. And after the fight, Chagaev’s representative quietly knocked on the locker room and returned the championship belt to Valuev: it turned out to be too big...

Not long before, Valuev, just like Tyson, fell into scandalous story. The 61-year-old controller of the Spartak sports complex, Yuri Sergeev, sued the champion, saying that he beat him for almost ten minutes, delivering about forty blows. Nikolai insisted that the guard had insulted his wife, and that the bruises were caused by him hitting the radiator when he was called to account. Whose side is right remains unclear. But it is obvious that if Valuev hits someone at least once, the person will then be rescued in intensive care. One day he broke his opponent’s jaw in two places in the ring. And here the pensioner survived almost four rounds.

But despite the loss of the title and the scandal in the press, Valuev is still respected in the boxing world. This can at least be judged by the nicknames that foreigners give him: the Beast from the East, the Rock, the Armored Train, the Eighth Wonder of the World... “In the West, everyone thinks that I am a wild animal,” Valuev laughs. “And they are very surprised that I’m talking!”

Now the patronage of Valuev has been taken by the most authoritative promoter in the boxing world - Don King, who once looked after Tyson himself. According to legend, when he saw the Russian, he exclaimed: “I am the King who found his Kong!” Don likes to tell his protégé: “Nico, almost all champions have lost their belts at some point. The truly great boxers were those who returned to the top." Valuev will begin this ascent on September 29, when he meets with Canadian Jean Francois Bergeron. Well, while there is time before the fight, the legendary giant gave an interview to MAXIM.

How did it happen that such a giant appeared in the family of parents of normal height?

No genetic failure or excess growth hormones. Everything is simpler: my great-grandfather was a hero. I won’t tell you his exact height: he lived at the beginning of the last century, the data in our family has not been preserved. But my great-grandmother said that my dad’s grandfather was much taller than the rest.

Has your height put you in any interesting situations?

Well, yes. The chairs broke under me. I sit down on a chair - and once again! - already on the floor. Well, this did not happen at an official reception. But in general, tall people see more dirt. In the literal sense of the word: the roofs of cars, refrigerators, high shelves that are rarely washed because they don’t reach. Giants perceive the world from a slightly different perspective.

What's your shoe size?

Fifty-one. Nowadays it’s not a problem to get big shoes, but before it was a real problem. I had to order from abroad and buy through friends. And I wore each pair for several years.

Is it difficult to type SMS with such fingers?

Not at all, I write text messages quickly. In general, a boxer must have dexterous fingers - we earn our living with our hands.

When you met your wife, was she afraid of you?

No, what are you talking about! We were at a mutual friend's birthday party, and sympathy immediately arose between us. I can’t imagine how I would live without my Galya.

How much do you bench press?

I stopped doing bench presses: the muscles become clogged. And I do ten pull-ups on the bar.

Explain: what happened to the world of boxing? If previously the “kings of the hill” were North Americans, now all four heavyweight champions are from former USSR: Klitschko, Chagaev, Maskaev, Ibragimov...

Nothing surprising. The Americans abandoned amateur boxing, forgetting that it is there that personnel for professional boxing are forged. Besides, our Russian wave is hungry, that’s why we’re winning. This is a normal course of history, and not just sports history. Some peoples eat too much and become lazier. They are being replaced by others. Behind the Greeks are the Romans, behind the Romans are the barbarians... Maybe in a hundred years the Chinese will be boxing champions.

Why are you holding training camps in Germany?

Partners are more willing to come to the center of Europe than to St. Petersburg. Although there is a problem with them too. It is difficult to find a person who exactly fits the type of your future opponent. And when people find out that they are invited to a training fight with me... “Fight with Valuev? What are you talking about?!” Even high fees don't help.

How do you like working with King? They write that this is an odious scandalous person...

He is sociable and energetic. At seventy years old, he will give even young people a head start. Clever, knows how to look for benefits. Someone once told me: “After any fight, Don King leaves the winner.” I will sign every word. I can't imagine who would replace Don if he left. Even him younger brother Carl King won't make it.

There is a tradition of verbal skirmishes before a fight. Don't they annoy you?

My opponents try to tease me, but I stay calm. John Ruiz said that he brought twenty-eight suitcases with him and one of them was empty. They say that after the battle he wants to put the pieces of the Russian giant there in order to distribute them later in America as souvenirs. Bloodthirsty guy. I replied that I would free him another suitcase - the one in which he brought the championship belt. And so it happened.

You are the tallest and heaviest world champion in boxing history. And aren't you ashamed to beat little ones?

Small ones? Yes, they hit like a sledgehammer! Fast, nimble. You'll suffer with them until you get there. That’s why I lost to Chagaev.

They call him White Tyson. Is he similar in style?

What is Tyson like?! Let's be objective...

Do you like movies about boxing? "Rocky", for example? After all, you were two steps short of the record of his prototype, Rocky Marciano: 49 fights in the ring without defeat...

The energy of boxing in Rocky is well depicted. But reliability is lacking. It’s the same as if ten clips of a machine gun are fired at you at point-blank range, and not even a hair falls off your head. This only happens in movies. Those who really understand boxing laugh at “Rocky”. If such a championship fight had happened in life, Stallone would have long ago gone into another world with his head thrown back. But overall, “Rocky” touches me – that means it’s a good film.

Have you acted in films yourself?

Yes, the German Otto Waalkes once released the painting “For the Seven Dwarfs the Whole Forest is Not Enough.”

My God, you played a dwarf?!

No, a prisoner. And the gnomes ran past. In general, this is a cameo role. But everyone said that I performed it well. They call me to Hollywood too. They offered to play with Robert De Niro. But while I’m seriously engaged in boxing, I try not to be distracted by other projects.

Does it bother you that directors only see you in brutal roles? I know, they called for the role of Mark Ratboy in The Master and Margarita...

Let's be realistic. I can’t play the role of DiCaprio in Titanic: I’m not a professional actor. And I have my own type. Yes, brutal. But everyone is happy. People joke that I could play Shrek in a feature film adaptation. If they offer me, maybe I won’t refuse. This green ogre is like a little brother to me.

When was the worst time in your life?

I'm terribly afraid of heights. Once I climbed a ten-meter tower, forced myself... I closed my eyes and fell down. Still gives me goosebumps.

And the most painful thing?

When I was betrayed by a person from whom I did not expect it. Heartache often stronger than physical.

How is Valuev resting?

I love fishing - I meditate on it. And hunting - you can move around there. Jeep, off-road. Then the forest. You walk with a gun... One day I climb a mountain in Armenia and come face to face with a bear. Healthy, as tall as me. He looked somehow unkindly. What to do? There is no use in running away. I screamed, “Wow!” The bear got scared and took off. He was so heavy that the ground shook as he ran.

Karelin went into politics, the Klitschko brothers. Maybe it's time for you too?

I met with the mayor of St. Petersburg, Valentina Matvienko. She whispered in my ear: “Kolya, just don’t go into politics.” But I'm not going to. For someone to use my face for personal gain? It hurts! I better than boxing I will practice as long as my health allows. Since we have the strength, we need to regain the championship title. This is what I dream about.

Last music CD purchased: "Time Machine", "Time Machine"

Idol: Muhammad Ali

Car: Toyota Land Cruiser 100

Favorite city: St. Petersburg

Favorite dish: herring under a fur coat

Favorite Actor: Robert De Niro

Favorite movie: "Heat"

• Name: Nikolai Valuev
• Patronymic: Sergeevich
• Birthday: August 21, 1973 (age 44)
• Place of birth: Leningrad
• Height: 213 cm
• Weight: 127 kg
• Zodiac sign: Leo
• Eastern horoscope: Ox
• Occupation: boxer, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation

Nikolay Valuev: biography

Russian professional boxer Nikolai Valuev, whose biography is richer than that of some star actors, never ceases to amaze society with his active work. By the way, he is known in the world as the Russian Giant (Russiangiant), and it was not in vain that he was so dubbed. He is 213 centimeters tall and weighs more than 150 kilograms. He was always distinguished by his large size, so, according to his admission, in the first grade he was the same height as the teacher, and this amused everyone very much. But the world’s attitude towards him is different, so he has a lot of nicknames, here are some of them: the Beast from the East, the Beast from the East, the Stone Head, Kolya the Sledgehammer, Nikola Pitersky. The last of the list is associated with its deposit. The biography of Nikolai Valuev, rich in events, begins from the day he was born - he was born on August 21, 1973 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and grew, as they say, by leaps and bounds.

Childhood

Since childhood, Nikolai has been partial to sports. He starts playing basketball early, and soon, as part of the team at the regional Children's Sports School, he becomes the national champion among junior boys school age(5th grade). Then he became interested in athletics and achieved the master of sports standard in discus throwing. After graduating from a sports boarding school, he entered the Institute. P.F. Lesgafta. Speaking of studies, Nikolai Valuev also received an economic education; his biography, like a piggy bank, has different layers. A learned athlete is a rare combination, but Nikolai is like that.

Boxing in Valuev's life

Here everything developed on high speeds. In the spring of 1993, the first boxing training took place, and in the fall of the same year, Nikolai Valuev’s biography was expanded with his debut in the professional ring. At this time he was engaged in amateur boxing, but his first fight was recognized by the judges as professional, so he was disqualified from the Goodwill Games in Berlin. It was a fight with American boxer John Morton, where Valuev won by knockout in the second round. The first disqualification resulted in the decision to take up boxing professionally.

And in the same 1993 he became a professional boxer. Traveled all over the world, boxed in Australia and the USA, Japan and South Korea, Czech Republic and Belarus, Germany and Ukraine. In 1999 he became the champion of Russia among professionals. Already in 2000 he became world champion according to the Pan-Asian Boxing Association. Then he defended this title 5 times. In 2004 he became world champion according to the World Boxing Association. Out of 53 fights, he won 50 times, lost in 2 fights and 1 fight is considered invalid. Bright life has Nikolai Valuev, the hero’s biography was based on everything globe with the participation of many interesting people.

Boxer's Rivals

Valuev - Andreas Sidon. The fight took place on May 5, 1999. 2 knockdowns, and in the 3rd round the judge stops the rivalry, a dissatisfied audience threw bottles at the ring, the judge is forced to announce the continuation of the fight, but the action did not last long, because in the 6th round there was another knockdown. The decision of the panel of judges is original: the fight was declared invalid.
Jamila McCline on her knees

Valuev - Clifford Etienne. This is the last fight in the career of the American, who was superior to the Russian boxer in all respects. The aggressive American received 2 uppercuts to the jaw in the 3rd round, which led to his fall. Another uppercut and a blow to the back of the head brought down Etienne. The judge ignored Valuev's illegal blow to an unprotected area, the American was unable to get up - this knockout ended the career of the American athlete.

Valuev - Monte Barrett. October 2006. The American looked good in the first rounds, and then moved around the ring for quite a long time, realizing that avoiding the Russian’s blows was the best solution. In the 4th round they fought so hard that the question of victory arose: who will win? But gradually heavy slashing blows unbalanced the American boxer, and an uppercut put him down. Valuev defended his WBA heavyweight title by knockout in the 11th round.

Valuev – Jamilya McCline, January 2007. The third voluntary defense of the World Champion title in a fight with American Jamila McCline was very difficult. It was heavy in the literal sense, the total weight of the boxers was 272 kilograms, the fight was recognized as the heaviest in the world. The strong spirit and heavy blows of the enemy forced McCline to give up the fight after the 3rd round.

Last Stand: Valuev – David Haya. This was a fight to defend the WBA title, it took place on November 7, 2009 with Englishman David Haye. All 12 rounds took place, the fight was on equal terms, but the victory was awarded to the Englishman.

Family and Children

Nikolai’s menacing appearance hardly fits or even hardly fits with the concept of “a good family man.” Meanwhile, Nikolai Valuev is happily married. His height and weight did not prevent him from living for more than 15 years in marriage with Galina Borisovna (born in 1977, Dimitrova’s maiden name). Their eldest son Gregory (b. 2002) is 13 years old, daughter Irina (b. 2007) is 8 years old and youngest son Sergei (b. 2012) is only three years old. The height of Valuev’s wife only reaches his waist. Next to such a gigantic husband, Galina looks tender, fragile and tiny. Her height is only 163 cm and her weight is 100 kg less weight spouse. They may well qualify for the title of the most unusual couple in the Guinness Book of Records. Although Valuev’s height is unusually tall, his children do not yet differ in size from their peers. The great world fighter had to prove his worth as a good family man more than once in his life. Today, the Valuev family has apartments not only in Russia, but also abroad (in Germany), they have cars and even boats.

Conclusion

This great and very kind man now devotes his time to youth and sports policy in Russia. The ex-world champion is charismatic, but his judgments are balanced and thorough. He's popular. Many famous agencies want to see him in their advertising. Nikolai Valuev does not go on vacation abroad, having once and for all chosen the nature of his native land for vacation. As a person he is very popular. Most Russians know the height and weight of the world's largest politician Valuev (213 cm and 160 kg).