Nikolai Valuev was/is he any good?

not really. just big

 

Top 10 Heavyweight - could give almost anybody a tough fight and could beat some of the top 10 guys.

Massive size, pawing jab, okay power, good chin, excellent stamina.

 

A clumsy oaf. Where he is in the rankings is a good indicator of how and why the HW division sux

 

Mediocre boxer, wouldn't be top 20, maybe top 30 if he was 6'5." He has done the most he can do with his size, a "good" fighter with it, average at best without it.

 

Yes, but that's heavyweights.

Power and strength is the equaliser for ability.

A lightweight shits all over Wlad in terms of ability, endurance speed etc.

Any heavy suffers if you make them smaller.

 

He won a title. Yes he's good.

 

spot on. not an all time great by any means....but people blame him for being big. Its not his fault...if other boxers were his size...they probably wouldnt have his stamina. and for his size you have to admit he moves pretty well.

 

valuev built his record beating bums. when he stepped up in competition to Huggy Bear :yep and The White Tyson atsch, he looked horrible. no hand speed. pawing jab. lousy power. now, he has excellent stamina for a man his size but that's because his workrate is so low. He just tires out his overmatched opponents. exactly what he did with barrett. Wlad would turn his face into hamburger. the speed difference is just too much. very easy fight for wlad

 

He's nothing special, but he was a welcome breath of fresh air after enduring a few years of that cheating fraud Ruiz holding the title hostage.

If for nothing else, boxing fans should be grateful to Valuev for ending that shameful chapter in HW history.

 

Yes he is a pretty good fighter, Chagaev had very close match with him and hes ranked 2 or 3 in the top 10 list right now.

Valuev has pretty good power, great stamina, and rarely uses his size to his advantage. Whenever he on the inside he always breaks clean, if he would use his size to wear down his oppenents he might have a better chance of knocking his fighter out later on in the fight.

 

I think he has a lot more ability than what he showed in his last few fights, his biggest problem is that he fights so tamely. In both his last two fights, he sleepwalked through the first 8-9 rounds and then came to life in the last 3 and then he looked quite impressive. Good foot movement for such a big guy and he used his size really well to boss his opponent around the ring and line him for some shots. He does also have some skills, but his handspeed is way too slow.

If he had more natural aggression in him, he would be a very tough fighter to beat.

 

make that 2. chagaev has already done a number on him and wlad would bust him up.

 

He's a decent to good contender, but the decisions against Ruiz and Donald (especially Donald) may well have gone the other way if he had a different promoter. I thought the Bergeron fight could've gone either way too.

He's got average hand and foot speed, average power (doesn't seem to commit to power punches with his body behind it often), but has pretty good stamina, a good jab and enormous size. And a cast iron chin.

I think he could beat some guys in the top10, but i would make him a heavy underdog against Chagaev, Sultan, Povetkin and Wlad would win a shutout decision and test Valuev's chin to its limits. The blueprint that Donald layed (stay outside, move in, throw a 3-4 punch combination and get out) works extremely well and Bergeron nearly repeated it.