Nicolay Valuev vs Serguei Liakhovich who wins?

I predicted a Valuev TKO the other day. I'm leaning towards points now, as the big man hits like my gran

 

someone on points

 

Valuev will win by 7th round KO, Serguei is clearly gun shy from the Briggs fight, he's been off for almost a year now. I think Serguei's chin has been cracked after Brewster fight and Briggs had the luxury of breaking it at the right time.

I think Valuev will come out swinging in this one, Serguei will be overpowered from the get go and will fight scared from the 1st round on, Valuev will hit him with something big in the middle rounds to end the fight, Serguei is done as a championship fighter.

 

Valuev on points. Lyakhovich is way overrated.

 

I agree. All he has to do is move his head and counterpunch. Valuev will always be right in front of him.

 

With natural judges it would be a clear Lyakhovich UD. At the Sauerland territory it could turn out to be a another undeserved Valuev victory.

Let's see: Valuev MD Larry Donald in one of the most horrible decisions I've every seen on live are. I had it 117-111 Donald
Valuev MD John Ruíz. Was closer but wasn't enough to be a two-way fight. I had Ruíz ahead 116-113
Chagaev MD Valuev. I had Chagaev ahead 116-112.
Valuev UD Bergeron 117-111(!), I gave it to Valuev with one point.

I've seen about 15 fight of Valuev. Against B level fighters he looked very impressive but against good defensive boxers with some footwork and brave aggression Nico became very uncomfortable. It looks like his lazy jab is a big factor in the judging but against those defensive fighters it wasn't effective at all. The other problem is that all the big punches landing on Valuev are looking like little slaps on the Empire State Building and as there is no visual proof (head bounce or body movement after those punches) for the judge(s) sitting behind his back (imagine that half of the hall is always looking at his back he is that big). From the bad angle of ringside it's just very hard to see punches landing on him. Most of the rounds in his controversial fights were close, I agree with that, but Ruíz, Donald and Chagaev was landing more and landing more cleanly almost in every round.

And the whole problem is that Lyakhovich could do as much as Ruíz did but there is no way that he’s getting the decision. I know a lot of you guys are wathcing his fights on stream or later in bad quality but trust me. I’ve seen most of his fights in digital TV and Valuev rarely lands clean against these defensive fighters. A 100% Lyakhovich could easily win the fight but with a long layoff and the Sauerland event it will be a robbery. I just HATE to speak about robbery before any fight because it’s not fair. I don’t think there are more robberies in Germany than anywhere else. Just look at De La Hoya-Sturm, Casamayor-Santa Cruz, Cotto-Sinwangcha. Everybody’s protecting his interests, but in the case of Valuev I see HORRIBLE JUDGING CONSTANTLY. Even with a deserved win against Bergeron the 117-111 is horrible. I like these European heavies, so I have no problem with them. The problem is with the judging and Valuev always has the judges on his side.

 

Valuev UD

 

Valuev by decision

 

Sergei is one of the most inactive fighters I've ever seen. He fought in 2004, skipped 2005, won a title in 2006 and lost it later in the year, skipped 2007, and now he's going to fight in early 2008. If he loses, don't expect him back until 2010.

 

who really cares? neither of these two will ever hold a title again.

 

I kind of want to fast forward to after this fight just so I can know the result, so I know who is still going to be around (and which one I don't have to worry about hearing of anymore...as that is likely the fate of the loser). I don't want to think about it or discuss it or watch it.