bwin Sportsblog - Other Sports - Valuev Value

The big fight tonight between David Haye of the UK and the Russian Nikolai Valuev has been attracting massive attention with massive being the operative word. The 7ft plus Russian man mountain will be a very difficult hurdle for Haye to overcome. Haye has explosive punching power but his problem will be that he is conceding about a foot in both height and reach and about seven stone in weight. In fact as weight goes then Valuev goes beyond most heavyweights. The experts are saying all sorts of things but the predictions are that Haye will find the size of Valuev a serious problem in the fact that he will be constantly having to punch upwards which is more energy sapping. Valuev has 50 wins from 52 fights and has never been knocked out. While it is true that his physique offers him some almost unique advantages, he hasn't really fought anyone as good as Haye although that could be argued. It is for this reason why Haye is starting as favourite and is 1.68 currently on bwin betting with Valuev at 2.15. I find that value to be quite frank and I don't see how Valuev can be worse than even money. The fight takes place in Nuremburg and the Germans are big boxing fans these days. Valuev's only loss came in a points decision against Ruslan Chagaev from Uzbekistan and Valuev changed trainers after that loss. Haye's problem is that Valuev is also used to going the distance so tiring in the later stages will not be part of his vocabulary. No doubt that the Haye camp will have been studying the fight against Chagaev where Valuev lost but since Valuev changed trainers afterwards, you would have to say that he must have blamed his trainer for the defeat. So how much we can draw from that fight is any one's guess. One thing is certain though and that is that this will be one of the most eagerly awaited fights in recent months...cannot wait :-) see you soon Carl