Ruslan Shamilevich Chagaev (born 19 October 1978) is an Uzbek former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2016. He is a two-time WBA heavyweight champion, having held the full world title from 2007 to 2009, and the Regular title
from 2014 to 2016. To date, Chagaev remains the only Asian boxer in the
history of the sport to hold a heavyweight world title by any of the
four major sanctioning bodies.In 2007 he defeated then-unbeaten Nikolai Valuev to win the WBA heavyweight title for the first time, 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 for a second time by defeating Fres Oquendo in 2014. He made one successful defence, but lost 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 after failing to pay sanctioning fees. On 28 July
2016 he announced his retirement from boxing due to ongoing eye
injuries.[1]As an amateur, Chagaev won gold medals at the 2001 World Championships and 1999 Asian Championships, in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions respectively.
It was announced on 28 July 2016 by manager Timur Dugashev that Chagaev announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 37 due to problems with his eyes. Dugashev stated: "Ruslan informed us that he would no longer fight. The reason is the state of his eyes. Health is the most important thing."[55]
There was reports in October 2016 that Chagaev was offered a farewell fight to close his career, potentially a rematch with Lucas Browne. Chagaev chose to stay retired due to health issues.
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