Ruslan Chagaev

Ruslan Chagaev Руслан Чагаев
Chagaev in 2007
Born	Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev (1978-10-19) 19 October 1978 (age 45) Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union (now Uzbekistan)
Nationality	Uzbekistani
Other names	White Tyson
Statistics
Weight(s)	Heavyweight
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Reach	188 cm (74 in)[1]
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	38
Wins	34
Wins by KO	21
Losses	2
Draws	1
No contests	1
Medal record Representing  Uzbekistan Men's amateur boxing World Championships 1997 Budapest Heavyweight 2001 Belfast Super-heavyweight World Junior Championships 1996 Havana Heavyweight Asian Games 1998 Bangkok Heavyweight Asian Championships 1999 Tashkent Heavyweight

Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev (Tatar: Руслан Шамил улы Чагаев; Uzbek: Ruslan Shamilovich Chagayev; Russian: Руслан Шамилович Чагаев); born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbekistani former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2016. He held the WBA heavyweight title twice and was the first Asian boxer to win a world heavyweight title by any of the four major sanctioning bodies. As of October 2021, BoxRec ranks Chagaev as the seventh greatest Asian fighter of all time, pound for pound.^[2] He was ranked as a top 10 heavyweight or contender by The Ring magazine at the conclusion of each year between 2006 and 2015; at the end of 2008 he was ranked third, only behind the Klitschko brothers.^[3][4]

Chagaev is one of a few professional boxers to resume his amateur boxing career after a few professional bouts in 1997. He was reinstated as an amateur by the AIBA the following year as his professional bouts were declared exhibitions. As an amateur, Chagaev won gold medals at the 2001 World Championships and 1999 Asian Championships, in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions respectively.

In 2007, Chagaev defeated then-unbeaten Nikolai Valuev to win his first WBA heavyweight title and would make two successful defences. Due to injuries and being unable to grant Valuev a rematch in 2009, the WBA stripped Chagaev of the title. He went on to suffer his first professional loss in the same year to unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.

Chagaev won the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title by defeating Fres Oquendo in 2014. He made one successful defence before losing the title to Lucas Browne in 2016. However, after Browne failed a drug test, the WBA reinstated Chagaev as champion, but he was once again stripped of the title in July of that year after failing to pay sanctioning fees. On 28 July 2016, he announced his retirement from boxing due to ongoing eye injuries.^[5]