What happened to Nikolai Valuev and where is he now after the 7-foot-tall giant was killed in the famous heavyweight fight against David Haye?

Nikolai Valuev famously lost to David Haye in 2009 and disappeared completely from the world of boxing.

Valuev was a 7-foot-4 heavyweight who became known for his size and power after sharing the ring with the likes of Evander Holyfield and John Ruiz.

But in the most famous fight of his career, the Russian powerhouse faced British challenger Haye in 2009, in a fight dubbed “David versus Goliath.”

The fight attracted a lot of interest worldwide because there is an incredible height difference of 20 centimeters between the two (Haye is 1.90 m tall).

The “haymaker” had to accomplish a mammoth task on foreign soil in Germany, but with an astonishing turn of events he made history.

It’s hard to believe, but the Brit was able to outbox his much larger opponent over the twelve rounds with his speed and agility and always stay one step ahead of him.

During the showdown, the British icon injured his hand. He later described the blow as if he had “hit a wall”.

Valuev stepped up and tried his best to defeat Haye, but was outclassed by the judges.

Haye won by majority decision, with one judge scoring the contest as a 114-114 draw and two 116-112 cards in favor of the new champion.

Immediately after the famous collision, Valuev, at the age of 36, considered retiring from the sport.

His sporting future was ultimately taken away from him when he was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor that prevented him from participating in competitions.

He also had problems with both knees, which ended his incredible career as a boxer.

Later that year, Valuev decided to establish the Nikolai Valuev Boxing School, which encouraged Russian youth to compete in the ring.

After the end of his boxing career, Valuev was elected as a deputy to the Russian parliament in 2011 and entered the State Duma via the United Russia party.

He also became general manager of the Russian national bandy team and worked on the further development of the sport.

Later, in 2016, he became a TV presenter of a children’s program and has been an integral part of Russian television ever since.

In September 2022, Valuev announced that he had been drafted by President Vladimir Putin to support the war effort in the invasion of Ukraine.

However, he was later hospitalized with a leg injury and was unable to fulfill his military service obligation, making it impossible for him to take part in the conflict.

The champion’s career was regularly hampered by health problems, but he still achieved performances at the highest level.

His most famous night was defending his title against one of the greatest fighters of all time in Holyfield, just eleven months before his loss to Haye.

His legacy will remain with the sport and his role in that famous night will never be forgotten, despite his failure.

Valuev’s rival Haye became only the fourth British heavyweight world champion ever and made history.

In the following years, he successfully defended his belts against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison before losing on points in his unification fight against Wladimir Klitschko in 2011.

Haye then fought and defeated Derek Chisora ​​​​in 2012 before taking a four-year break from the sport until 2016.

After his return with victories over Mark De Mori and Arnold Gjergjaj, the Londoner was forced into a two-fight series with Tony Bellew.

He suffered two abandonment defeats and decided to retire from the sport in May 2018 after the defeats.

Recalling his fight against Valuev after the latter’s retirement in 2019, Haye described exactly how difficult it was to take down the giant athlete.

Five years ago he said: “My memories of that night are still vivid. Doubts creep into the back of my mind. Am I crazy?

“I broke my hand in the second round. A big right overhand. The guy had a rock hard jaw and I broke my knuckle on his jaw.

“In the last round I almost knocked him down to really cement my point win, but to get a win on foreign soil against a guy who was promoted by Don King, who had a German promotion team, in Germany.

“Any decision even remotely close would have gone in his favor, so tactically I really had to go beyond the usual and make sure he didn’t land any serious blows.”