Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye would agree to face Ruiz in a mandatory defence. Confirmed bouts: Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye, billed as "David vs Goliath", was a professional boxing match contested on 7 November 2009 for the WBA heavyweight championship. After regaining the WBA title with a unanimous decision over fellow former Champion John Ruiz Nikolai Valuev had made one defence gaining a very controversial majority decision over Evander Holyfield, he agreed to "Champion in Recess" Ruslan Chagaev, who had given Valuev the only defeat of career. However their fight on 30 May 2009 in Helsinki, Finland at the
Nikolai Valuev vs. Evander Holyfield months before announcing his return in June 2006 to take on Jeremy Bates in August of that year. Holyfield would win the first four fights of his comeback and eventually landed a world title shot against WBO heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov on October 13, 2007, but lost by a lopsided unanimous decision. Holyfield would take a year-long layoff, but eventually accepted an offer from WBA heavyweight Nikolai Valuev to challenge him for the title on December 20, 2008. Valuev was in his second reign as WBA heavyweight champion, having defeated John Ruiz to claim the vacant title in his previous