Boxer Ruslan Chagaev received the nickname "White Tyson from Uzbekistan" in the ring. This happened for the first time in 2001 in Ireland after the athlete had four fights and they all ended ahead of schedule. The boxer himself is not very fond of this nickname, because the black American heavyweight is his longtime idol. Ruslan believes that Tyson cannot be compared with anyone. Among famous colleagues, Chagaev is distinguished by a powerful punch, good technique and boxing intelligence. In his professional sports biography, he set a personal record: twenty-five victories, seventeen of them by knockout, one draw.
Amateur boxing
Ruslan Chagaev is a purebred Tatar by nationality. Once his ancestors moved from the Ulyanovsk region to Uzbekistan, where he was born in 1978 in the city of Andijan. The boy began to play sports early and delighted his coaches and parents with his successes. The first serious results were victories in amateur tournaments. In 1995 Ruslan won an important title - the champion of Asia among the heavyweights of amateurs.
Over the next six years, he twice confirmed this title and twice became the world amateur champion. Each victory was preceded by a lot of work and months of training. The result of the 1997 world championship was canceled due to the fact that on the eve of the championship, the athlete fought a professional Donnie Penelton. The victory of the Uzbek athlete over the American was unconditional, after which the eminent professional retired.
Professional sports
After that, Chagaev was invited to the professional league. In his new capacity, he showed his good form and high technical level of boxing in a fight with Everett Martin, when he finished the fight in the fourth round with a confident knockout.
Until January 2006, Chagaev had fifteen fights. They ended with fourteen wins and one draw with American Rob Calloway. In March of the same year, a meeting with the Ukrainian Vladimir Virchis took place, in which the judges awarded the Uzbek athlete an almost equal victory. The result of many years of hard work was the WBA and WBO championship titles. In November 2006, a match with US boxer John Ruiz took place in Dusseldorf, Germany. “White Tyson” won by TKO in the eighth round, thereby confirming his championship.
An important fight for Ruslan was the meeting with the Russian Nikolai Valuev in 2007. The foreign public nicknamed the St. Petersburg heavyweight "The Beast from the East". Up to this point, both athletes did not know defeat. The forces of the opponents were so equal that the judges were able to determine the winner only by the sum of points, taking into account all twelve rounds. The winner of the fight, Chagaev, who was significantly inferior to the Russian in height, received his first belt in the heavyweight division. The invincible Valuev still remembers that day today: fifty winning matches and one defeat - "David defeated Goliath!" At the homeland of the athlete, they arranged a real holiday on this occasion and gave the winner a very warm welcome. Two years later, a rematch was planned, but Chagaev's injury prevented it from being held twice. Instead of this battle, another one, no less bright and significant, took place. Ruslan's rival was Vladimir Klitschko. Before the fight, Chagaev was stripped of his WBA title. His health condition led to the fact that he entered the ring infrequently and therefore was declared "champion on vacation". The athlete's morale was broken and he admitted defeat to the Ukrainian.
Another strong defeat was the result of the fight with the Russian Alexander Povetkin in 2011. Throughout the competition, leadership passed to one or another athlete. The opponents showed many interesting attacks, partly even aggressive boxing. Ruslan surpassed Alexander in the quality of shots, but lost noticeably in their number. The victory was unanimously awarded to Povetkin. After that, Chagaev did not enter the ring for a year. He appeared in 2012 to showcase beautiful boxing against Kerston Manswell and convincingly knock out American Billy Zambran.
In 2014, the brilliant victories of the boxer from Uzbekistan over Fres Oquendo from Puerto Rico and the Italian Francesco Pianetta, who was struck by a knockout from the first minutes of the fight, followed. In total, Chagaev's championship lasted about five years. After losing to Lucas Brown in 2016, he lost this title and decided to end his boxing career. Another reason was the athlete's deteriorating vision.
Personal life
Today Chagaev lives in Hamburg. He moved to Germany in 2003, accepting an offer to defend the honor of the Univtrsum club. Before that Ruslan spent some time in America. It was then that he attended training with Mike Tyson and met his idol. According to the Uzbek boxer, in the United States, athletes are left to their own devices, promoters do not always fulfill their promises. In addition, American boxing is more "bloody", as the local public wants to see it. This is how it differs from the European style, where fans love not only knockouts, but also good technique. In general, Chagaev considers the Soviet boxing school to be the best in the world and is very glad that its traditions are still preserved in the post-Soviet space.
Shortly before moving to Germany, Ruslan started a family and soon acquired his own home in the new country. His chosen one was Victoria, a graduate of the medical institute. It is noteworthy that the girl is the athlete's countrywoman, she is also from Andijan. The wife gave her husband three sons: Arthur, Alan and Adam. The wife was always present at the matches, but she was waiting for Ruslan in the corridor - it was very hard for her to watch the fight itself. In an interview, the boxer shared that the best rehabilitation after injuries is the support of loved ones. His wife and children have always given him strength and instilled confidence that everything will work out.
