By Karl Freitag / Photo: Daniel Hiller, January, 20, 2007
WBA heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev (46-0, 34 KOs) retained his title with an unsatisfying third round stoppage of Jameel McCline (38-7-3, 23 KOs) Saturday night at St Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland. Action was slow in round one with neither fighter landing anything of consequence. Valuev connected with a good right hand in round two and outworked McCline most of that round. McCline started to have success with combinations in round three, but after a good two-way exchange at the end of the round, McCline's left knee gave out and he crashed to the deck. McCline could not continue and Valuev was declared the winner by TKO. McCline, who has now come up short in three world title trys, said this was probably his last fight before being taken from the ring on a stretcher. It is believed McCline tore ligaments in the knee. A disappointed Valuev commented, "I'm very sorry that Jameel had suffered this injury. Thank you to all the fans who have supported me here....I got used to his style. If the injury hadn't happened, I would have knocked him out by the sixth or seventh round." Co-promoter Don King observed "Valuev hit him so hard he broke his knee." Next on the agenda for 'The Russian Giant' is unbeaten mandatory challenger Ruslan "White Tyson" Chagaev, whom he must face by April 15. "I won't be waiting long before the preparation for my next title defense," said the champion.
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