September 29, 2007
Special to PA SportsTicker
OLDENBURG, Germany (Ticker) - Jean-Francois Bergeron's trip to Germany ended in defeat as Nikolai Valuev held off a courageous challenge to win a unanimous verdict Saturday night.
A former WBA heavyweight champion, Valuev was ahead on all three scorecards - 118-111, 117-111, 118-111 - even though his Canadian opponent landed several big lefts throughout the 12 rounds.
However, Valuev (47-1, 34 KOs) picked up speed in the last third of the fight to hand Bergeron (27-1, 19 KOs) the first loss of his career and take away his NABA title belt.
Valuev controlled the center of the ring from the outset, making good use of his left jab to keep Bergeron at bay.
The crowd roared when the Russian giant landed a big right in the second round, but Bergeron then wobbled Valuev with a big left to the head.
While Valuev remained on the front foot in the third, it was the Canadian who landed the clearer punches, cleverly connecting with lefts to the head.
Valuev replied with a strong right in the middle of the fourth, only for Bergeron to shake it off and strike back with two quick lefts.
The pattern remained the same in the fifth round, with Valuev clobbering Bergeron with a right hook early but not without conceding another big left straight to the head from his courageous opponent.
Bergeron did well to avoid being pinned in the corners, while Valuev then managed to block the Canadian's left.
At the end of the fifth, the crowd roared when both landed strong lefts almost simultaneously. It did not seem to impress the former world champion, who did not flinch when Bergeron landed a quick one-two combination in the seventh.
Valuev kept pressing but failed to land any strong shots, and again Bergeron responded by landing fierce lefts to the head.
Valuev jabbed better in the ninth and also punished the NABA champion with a right to the head, but not without finding himself on the receiving end of another one-two combination.
Bergeron seemed to tire in the last quarter of the fight after he suffered two hard body shots early in the 10th round.
Valuev, now in complete control, smashed in a huge right uppercut to open in the penultimate round.
It was the start of a furious finish. The crowd raised the roof in the last three minutes, with Valuev desperately going for the kill while battling his opponent through the ring.
Bergeron bravely remained standing, but the points decision went against him.
