Nikolai Valuev

The housemates were watching boxing yesterday evening when I came home, and during the broadcast I had occasion to learn of the existence of the boxer Nikolai Valuev who's over 7 feet tall. Why isn't he playing basketball? Maybe he never learned the game? But no "When I was on the fifths form I started to play basketball. Finally, I moved to the boarding school ?1of Leningrad specialized in sport. When I was a member of combined team of Frunzenskoi children sport school I was managed to be the basketball champion of country among the junior boys."

Obviously, I'm a basketball fan. But that aside, it features more money and less brain damage -- what's not to like?

Comments

Maybe he wasn't that good. He's one of the best heavyweight boxers in the world, and I assume he makes a shit-ton of money at it. Even with his size and strength, if he had no feel for the game he wouldn't have been a lock for a lucrative pro hoops career.

Or maybe he just likes to hurt people, and the Spurs didn't have any roster spots open. Zing!

Posted by too many steves | July 14, 2008 12:20 PM

Valuev is a huge star in Russia, and with his size he doesn't take too many punches, so brain damage isn't really a worry.

Posted by Octavian | July 14, 2008 12:29 PM

Why isn't he playing basketball?

Maybe because nobody really cares about basketball outside of the US?

Posted by novakant | July 14, 2008 12:40 PM

Even the average NBA player is insanely athletic. Just being tall and strong isn't nearly enough. For example, I'm pretty sure Yao is quicker than the average guy in almost every way, but he's still considered a little bit stiff by NBA elite standards.

If you're a 7-footer with decent hand-eye coordination who doesn't run and jump so well, boxing might be a much better sport for you.

Plenty of (relatively) slow heavyweights have made decent careers on the theory that sooner or later the other guy's got to get near you, and that's when you thump him.

Posted by hubcap | July 14, 2008 12:40 PM

Going w/ TMS above, I'd not be surprised if he just likes hitting people in the face.

Posted by matt (not the famous one) | July 14, 2008 12:46 PM

Sure he COULD have made more money playing basketball, but I think its turned out just fine for him. He probably makes an ass-load of money. I think he made the right decision.

Posted by Stacy | July 14, 2008 12:48 PM

As someone who's seen Valuev fight, I've got a good answer for this: he's not very fast on his feet, even for a boxer. He's got the reach so that he doesn't have to, but I doubt he could really keep up with the running in professional basketball.

Posted by StevenAttewell | July 14, 2008 12:50 PM

Like TMS said, I'm pretty sure he can make a shit-ton of money in the ring. What did Mike Tyson claim to have lost to Don King? A hundred million? And Lennox Lewis sued him for even more.
'Course whether he gets to keep any of it or it all goes to the Mafiya is anyone's guess.

Posted by Curly | July 14, 2008 12:54 PM

Valuev eats three kilos of meat daily

That's six pounds! Twenty-four quarter pounders! No wonder he moves slow.

Posted by MQ | July 14, 2008 12:55 PM

While ability in basketball does involve an unfortunate amount of pure freakish hight, I'd like to think that it's not so bad that you can just look at someone and say, "they could be a pro-basketball player."

Posted by JK | July 14, 2008 12:59 PM

I remember back in the day (early 60s) wondering about who would win an Ali-Chamberlain matchup. I was unlettered enough to not realize that the match would last around 30 seconds. Even an Ali-Unseld matchup (to get closer to a player with an almost-boxer's physique) wouldn't have lasted long.

Boxers club each other, but that's not all they do.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | July 14, 2008 1:13 PM

Novakant,

If you don't know what your talking about it is generally better to not say anything so you don't look like an idiot.

Basketball is very popular in a lot of parts of Europe, notably Russia. Hell, they pay so much in their women's league that top WNBA players go there in the winter and make several times their WNBA salaries.

As for this guy, he is probably a statue, works fine if your 7'5"ish or more (Mark Eaton, Georghe Muresean, etc) but at just over 7 feet you gotta be somewhat mobile.

And if you are so tall that other boxers can't reach your head the brain damage thing may not be that much of a concern:-)

Posted by eric k | July 14, 2008 1:34 PM

Basketball is a team sport that requires speed and agility for everyone but the real powerhouses. If you aren't fast, don't like team formations, and don't like to jump or don't have a great shot . . . who cares if you're tall?

Posted by Barbara | July 14, 2008 1:43 PM

I also wonder about a guy like Washington pitcher Jon Rauch, at 6- 11 the tallest player in baseball history. You'd think he'd rather be playing basketball than playing for that group they call a major league team.

Posted by carsick | July 14, 2008 1:45 PM

seconding StevenAttewell: he's incredibly slow, and basically immobile. I've only seen him fight once, and maybe I missed something, but he didn't even seem like a particularly good boxer--just stood in the middle of the ring and waited for the guy he was fighting to come in close, at which point he would try to deliver a straight (but down; kinda comical to watch) right. He was fighting your proverbial can of corn, but had trouble just because the other guy wasn't an idiot and didn't get in close without a plan to get out again very quickly. I thought at the time that Valuev was a freakshow and would have no serious career as a boxer, although he's won a few somewhat impressive fights since then, so I'm looking forward to seeing him again and reevaluating. But to get back to the point, as a basketball player he'd be a disaster lumbering down the court. I also think I read somewhere that he has bad knees. Of course, maybe if at 14 somebody had spotted him and tried to turn him into a basketball player his body would be entirely different by now, and he'd be light enough that he could move around. Dunno.

It's neither here nor there, but I note for academic interest that he has the most grotesque head I've ever seen. Not that I'd ever say that to his face.

Posted by dan | July 14, 2008 3:26 PM

He's one of the best heavyweight boxers in the world

It's odd that this statement is both true and false. He's actually not a very good boxer, but his shear size makes him a contender/champion. Valuev is a decent guy but he's been fighting hand-picked opponents to build his record. Note that John Ruiz, who is kryptonite to exciting fights, was robbed when the two fought.

The heavyweight division sucks and has sucked for the last decade. I miss the days of Holyfield, Bowe, Tyson, Ruddock, Mercer, Morrison, Lewis, Golota, Moorer, Foreman, Tua, and Ibeabuchi. It now consists of a lot of those same fighters who are 10 years past their prime (15+ in Holyfield's case), and a bunch of giant eastern Europeans.

The only decent heavies out there right now are Wlad Klitschko and Samuel Peter....

Posted by Joe | July 14, 2008 6:34 PM

I first heard about Valuev, and saw photos, a couple years ago. It seemed to me then, as it does now, that there is something just unfair about letting a guy that freakishly big compete as a boxer against significantly smaller guys.

But then, I never have understood the appeal of boxing. I can only make sense of it as some sort of socio-psychological release valve, an accepted outlet for the impulse towards brutality that we ordinarily have to suppress in order to have a functioning society.

Posted by live | July 14, 2008 10:40 PM