After all the talk, all the bravado, 29-year former World Cruiserweight champion David Haye (23-0, 21 KO) of London, England elected to hit and run on the way to capturing his first major belt in the Heavyweight division, outpointing the 7’0 Russian Nicolay Valuev (50-2, 34 KO) for the WBA title over twelve largely uneventful rounds at the Arena Nürnberger in Nuremberg, Germany on Saturday night which added a new entrant to this decade’s seemingly endless nominees for worst Heavyweight ‘title’ fight of all time.

Haye weighed in 218 lbs., giving up almost 100 to Valuev who scaled 316 lbs.

Both men began relaxed, Haye wisely circling from the outside while Valuev probed with his long left jab. Focusing his own jab to the body, Haye continued to circle, finally trying and missing a big right hand. He managed a hard right to the body as Valuev pursued but Valuev blocked a pair of rights in the closing seconds of round one.

Valuev continued to motor the jab, missing most but keeping Haye at a range where he could swat away a counter left hand attempt. Haye’s right hand finally crashed through in the final thirty seconds of round two, causing a pause in the giant before Valuev shook his head and then began his march forward again.

Aiming at Haye’s chest, Valuev pumped a double jab to begin the third, the fight maintaining the pace of the two opening frames. Haye slipped shots on the ropes, responding with a muffled left hook counter and, at the halfway mark, caused another shake of the head from Valuev following a blistering right. A left uppercut scored for the Brit in the final minute and a slashing right punctuated the action in the final ten seconds.

Trapped in a corner early in the fourth, Haye slid away from a right and left, scooting to mid ring as Valuev missed another right. While the action was limited, so too was the output of the titlist and Haye made good with a big left and, later, right, in the final minute.

Valuev had his best round of the fight to then in the fifth, forcing the action as Haye elected only to punch in a single flurry at the minute mark before dropping his hand to posture for the crowd in the closing seconds. The total punches landed, for both fighters, may well have countable on a single hand as the fight’s early drama became overwhelmed by a brutal lack of action.

Haye missed a big right near the halfway mark of the sixth, one of his first hard punches thrown as Valuev pawed, but occasionally at least landed, his jab. A huge counter left from Haye echoed, blocked, off the gloves of Valuev and Haye missed another right in the final thirty seconds before taking a right from the giant just before the bell.

There were spots of better action in the seventh, Valuev getting closer with his right and Haye responding furiously off the ropes in the final minute. A big right from Haye again stood Valuev up, the Russian shaking his head to indicate he’d not been hurt. It took until the closing seconds of the eighth for a fight to break out again, the Russian fighting fully in his rhythm as Haye elected for lengthy stretches to preen without punching.

Remembering that part of boxing is punching, Haye let a nice combination loose with a minute left in the ninth and scored with another right late while Valuev responded throughout with his jab and a looping left hook.

Valuev threw little in the tenth while Haye supplied some flashy rights to make a case. Valuev popped a hard body shot in the closing ten seconds but it was almost all he had to his favor. With six minutes to go, a case could be made for either man as leading on the cards while a declaration could be made that viewers were most certainly losing.

Neither man made much of a statement in round eleven until the final ten seconds where Valuev brushed Haye with a left to the face and Haye fired a right which struck near the ear of Valuev. Valuev blocked most of the token offense of Haye to his favor as well.

Valuev missed a big right hand in the twelfth as Haye stayed at range, moving as if he had an insurmountable lead until letting loose a combination which suddenly brought everything to life. Badly wobbled by a left hook, Valuev stumbled to the ropes and nearly dropped for the first time in a title fight. Valuev did not retreat, continuing to come forward even as his tree trunk legs trembled. Haye, controlled, settled for the brief highlight and did not go all out for the knockout, the Russian finishing on his feet and both leaving it in the hands of the judges.

It turned out to be a safe place for Haye. After the first score was announced at 114-114, causing a brief spattering of boos from Haye fans traveling from London, a pair of cards came in at 116-112 for the new WBA Heavyweight beltholder. BoxingScene scored the bout 114-114.

“When I was a little baby, I said I’d be Heavyweight champion of the world and today my dream came true.” Haye stated following the bout that he’d hurt his hand and had initially planned to fight more aggressively before reiterating what he’s been saying since he first vacated the Cruiserweight championship.

Haye believes he is the best Heavyweight in the world.

He’s put himself a step closer to proving it.

The first man to challenge the notion, before Haye can get to fellow titleholders Wladimir or Vitali Klitschko, emerged in a support bout on the card.

37-year old former two-time WBA titlist John Ruiz (44-8-1, 29 KO), 226, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, put forth a spry performance, teeing off on 34-year old Adnan Serin (19-11-1, 7 KO), 214 ½, of Turkey for almost every second, forcing a corner stoppage in round seven.

A cut near the left eye, caused by a headbutt, was Ruiz’s only problem as he let loose an assortment of right hands, uppercuts and left hooks behind an active jab. The end came when a series of chopping rights sent Serin into the ropes in the seventh. Referee Josef Temml ruled a knockdown even though Serin did not officially hit the deck, counting out the mandatory eight and then allowing the action to continue. A few more rights were all Serin’s corner needed to see, throwing in the towel shortly after the knockdown. The official time of the stoppage was 1:34 of round seven.

It was Serin’s sixth loss in his last ten outings, four of those defeats by knockout.

While Ruiz entered the bout as the WBA’s #2 contender on paper, he stepped aside to allow Valuev-Haye and is now positioned for his second attempt to regain his old belt since losing it to Valuev in 2005 and losing their rematch in 2008.

Other Televised Results
Heavyweight: Robert Helenius (11-0, 7 KO) TKO4 Taras Bidenko (26-4, 12 KO)
Cruiserweight: Alexander Frenkel (22-0, 18 KO) TKO1 Kelvin Davis (24-11-3, 17 KO)
Middleweight: Marcos Nader (5-0, 0 KOs) UD6 Ciro Ciano (6-5-4, 1 KO)

The card was broadcast on pay-per-view in the United States, promoted by Sauerland Events.