VALUEV OUT "GUNZ" BARRETT

It was a rock that dropped the mighty Goliath in the biblical story, shot from the sling of the hero David. That's the story used so many times, a story that falls just as heavily into cliché as this match-up's David did early in the 11th round, to an unsurprising round of thudding punches by our Goliath, one Nikolai Valuev. Fans hoping for a repeat of this analogy will most likely find it in tonight's write ups; fans hoping for a repeat of the outcome of the classic tale will have to look elsewhere for satisfaction. Perhaps to the next time Nikolai toes the line. But until then the heavyweight title holder will maintain his undefeated record and leave the ring perhaps one step close to proving himself a champion, and one fight further down the road of his long professional career.

It wasn't the first time that Valuev has been forced to fight a lengthy battle, and not the first opponent to show Valuev some guts and gumption in the ring. Valuev, a boxer who while not great, has shown that he does learn from his fights. And in this fight it may be the lesson of stamina, persistence and the reminder that his right hand will not always save him that Valuev will take with him as he leaves Chicago tonight.

While the fight seemed to ramble on in parts, both fighters hitting, hitting, then holding, the action began to unfold more coherently after the sixth round, when many of the predictions said would show whether Barrett could win Valuev over by tiring the larger fighter who has only scored one KO in the final rounds of his previous fights. But Barrett, who was never able to truly find his rhythm or strategy in the match, was unable to get in tight and reach over Valuev's right hand, could not pick up the pace enough to slow down even the noticeably more fatigued giant. Barrett made many bold attempts to mount an attack, landing several power shots to Valuev's face into the seventh and eighth rounds. Ultimately, however, Valuev succeeded in tiring Barrett, who fell to the matt in the eighth round, more from exhaustion than by any punch thrown.

In the eleventh round it was the same exhaustion that slowed Monte Barrett to a halt, as Valuev honed in on the fighter, showing his own reserves by pummeling Barrett, knocking him the matt twice more before Barrett's trainer, risking disqualification by jumping into the ring, stopped the fight and saved his fighter anymore punishment from the still undefeated heavyweight champion.