Thursday, May. 08, 2008

Chagaev-Valuev heavyweight fight rescheduled

By Sports Network

The WBA heavyweight title fight between champion Ruslan Chagaev and challenger Nikolay Valuev has been rescheduled for July 5.

The bout had initially been slated for May 31, but was postponed earlier this week when Chagaev was forced to stop training because of a viral infection of the upper respiratory tract.

Chagaev (24-0-1, 17 knockouts) took a split decision over the 7-foot Valuev (48-1, 34 KO) to win the title in April of 2007. Valuev has won a pair of fights since losing to Chagaev, who has made just one title defense -- winning a unanimous decision against Matt Skelton this past January.