By Steve Bunce
During the next 12 weeks, all four of the recognised world heavyweight champions will defend their titles in fights that will barely cause a ripple on the global sporting scanner.
First of the four, all of whom are from former Soviet republics, will be World Boxing Association champion Nikolai Valuev against New York’s Monte Barrett on Saturday near Chicago.
While Valuev is convinced he is no longer treated like a circus freak, the Beast from the East is still considered an oddity. He is, lest we forget, 7ft 2in, weighs 24 stone and is just too close to the tragic man-mountain that Budd Schulberg created for his 1947 novel, The Harder They Fall.
Valuev is unbeaten in 45 fights stretching back 13 years and he has fought in 10 different countries, including Britain where he was the centre of attention a decade ago at Battersea Town Hall. However, his manager Frank Maloney quickly off-loaded him when it became apparent that too many people in Russia had a vested interest in the fighter.
Valuev has done everything asked of him, and in a tainted division he can hold his considerable head high. Last December he beat John Ruiz to win the belt. It was tight, the German crowd booed and now Ruiz is fighting in Germany. In Valuev’s first defence he beat Owen “What the Heck” Beck in three one-sided rounds.
In the Barrett fight there is every indication that Valuev will need the best performance of his career because the New Yorker has an annoying habit of raising the stakes when the pot is golden. If Barrett can put a temp orary end to the shame of America’s heavyweights he will become a very popular, and potentially very rich, fighter.
Barrett has lost four of his 35 fights but rather alarmingly he has not fought since August last year when he was easily beaten by Hasim Rahman in a World Boxing Council title challenge. Barrett was dreadful and fought without any desire.
Before that debacle there were back-to-back fights against unbeaten prospects Joe Mesi and Dominick Guinn. Mesi was 27-0 when Barrett led him a merry dance at Madison Square Garden in December 2003. I was ringside and Barrett breezed the fight but Mesi, a very marketable young man, received the decision. Mesi had what King refers to as the “complexion to make the connections”. Yes, he is white and sold a lot of tickets but sadly he suffered a bleed on the brain a fight later and was forced out of the ring. Amazingly he is now back, fighting in backwater states where medical legis lation is disturbingly non-existent.
In March 2004, Barrett was matched with Guinn, who was 24-0. Guinn had 12,000 of his hometown fans roaring him on but Barrett finally proved he was world class with a win.
King is an expert at heavyweight alchemy and he must be aware that Barrett has little left. King knows that if he can establish Valuev as the best of the four champions there are endless possibilities to make a lot of money – unification, Mike Tyson, the return of Lennox Lewis. But if Valuev wins a bore or if Barrett defies the formbook then heavyweight boxing will continue to lack a leader.
“I’m looking for the next great heavy- weight,” said King. “I will find him.”
Or, he will simply create him.
