Ruslan Chagaev

Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev (Руслан Шамил улы Чагаев; Ruslan Shamilovich Chagayev; Руслан Шамилович Чагаев); born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbekistani former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2016. He held the WBA heavyweight title twice and was the first Asian boxer to win a world heavyweight title by any of the four major sanctioning bodies. As of October 2021, BoxRec ranks Chagaev as the seventh greatest Asian fighter of all time, pound for pound. He was ranked as a top 10 heavyweight or contender by The Ring magazine at the conclusion of each year between 2006 and 2015; at the end of 2008 he was ranked third, only behind the Klitschko brothers.

Asian Championships (91 kg), Tashkent, Uzbekistan, October 1995:

Uzbek National Spartakiade (91 kg), Tashkent, Uzbekistan, January 1996:

Summer Olympics (91 kg), Atlanta, Georgia, July 1996:

World Junior Championships (91 kg), Havana, Cuba, November 1996:

Chagaev is one of a few professional boxers to resume his amateur boxing career after a few professional bouts in 1997.

He was reinstated as an amateur by the AIBA the following year as his professional bouts were declared exhibitions.

Chagaev won gold at the 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships heavyweight, defeating Félix Savón in the finals, but later he was stripped of the championship for having 2 professional bouts in the United States before the tournament.

Chagaev is the only non-Cuban boxer to defeat Félix Savón twice, and the only one to do it at the world championships, which Savón have won consecutively.

Savón suffered his first international defeat in more than a decade, when he met Chagaev for a first time.

His amateur career is also merited with absence of stoppages on his part, with all four his losses were standing defeats with him being outpointed.

Trofeo Italia (+81 kg), Naples, Italy, March 1997:

Usti Grand Prix (91 kg), Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic, March 1997:

King's Cup (91 kg), Bangkok, Thailand, April 1997:

World Championships (91 kg), Budapest, Hungary, October 1997:

Chagaev made his professional debut on 21 August 1997, defeating Donnie Penelton by first-round knockout.

After defeating Brian Jones three weeks later by second-round KO, Chagaev returned to amateur boxing.

Asian Games (91 kg), Bangkok, Thailand, December 1998:

Strandzha Cup (91 kg), Plovdiv, Bulgaria, February 1999:

French Open (91 kg), Calonne-Ricouart – Berck-sur-Mer – Gravelines, France, May 1999:

World Championships (91 kg), Houston, Texas, August 1999:

Asian Championships (91 kg), Tashkent, Uzbekistan, October 1999:

Ahmet Cömert Memorial (91 kg), Istanbul, Turkey, April 2000:

Summer Olympics (91 kg), Sydney, Australia, September 2000:

As an amateur, Chagaev won gold medals at the 2001 World Championships and 1999 Asian Championships, in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions respectively.

Because of his performance at the 2001 World Amateur Boxing Championships, where Chagaev stopped every opponent he had faced, a rarity in amateur boxing competitions, Chagaev received the nickname "White Tyson".

Ahmet Cömert Memorial (+91 kg), Istanbul, Turkey, April–May 2001:

World Championships (+91 kg), Belfast,, Northern Ireland, June 2001:

Chagaev had a few professional bouts while competing as an amateur.

He finished his amateur career having a total of 85 fights under his belt, with a record of 81 wins, 4 losses (no stoppages.)

He returned to professional boxing in 2001, beating an experienced journeyman Everett Martin on 21 September by fourth-round technical knockout, in what was Chagaev's first and only professional fight in his native Uzbekistan.

It was around that time when Chagaev underwent surgery to fix the detachment of the retina in his left eye.

In his next bout, Chagaev faced journeyman Val Smith (10–16, 9 KOs) on 14 April 2002 at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 2007, Chagaev defeated then-unbeaten Nikolai Valuev to win his first WBA heavyweight title and would make two successful defences.

Due to injuries and being unable to grant Valuev a rematch in 2009, the WBA stripped Chagaev of the title.

He went on to suffer his first professional loss in the same year to unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Chagaev won the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title by defeating Fres Oquendo in 2014.

He made one successful defence before losing the title to Lucas Browne in 2016.

However, after Browne failed a drug test, the WBA reinstated Chagaev as champion, but he was once again stripped of the title in July of that year after failing to pay sanctioning fees.

On 28 July 2016, he announced his retirement from boxing due to ongoing eye injuries.