Boxing Betting / Ralph Ellis / 03 November 2009 / Leave a comment

Both David Haye and Nikolay Valuev possess interesting trainers and their methods could be the deciding factor in the WBA Heavyweight title clash

"Alexander Zimin claims to have completely transformed Valuev's training and given him movement to go with his size. He's slimmer, fitter, quicker, with faster punching and a genuine jab."

There is a fascinating under card developing for Saturday night's big fight. And no, I'm not talking about John Ruiz fighting Germany's Adnan Serin. The battle that's interesting me is another little and large contest, although not quite to the same scale as the real David against Goliath battle in which David Haye confronts all seven feet two inches of Nikolay Valuev.

This is the contrast between the men in each corner, and in a sport where boxers have always been at the mercy of their managers, it could actually be quite pivotal.

Haye has Adam Booth, the boxing fan come sports medicine and psychology expert who has guided him since his early days as an amateur. It's Booth, you suspect, who devised the strategy of trash talking which Haye has followed to draw the giant Russian into this fight. And he's now handling the build-up brilliantly, providing drama for the reporters covering the big event by booking his man back out of their hotel within minutes of arriving in Germany, and casting dark rumours about how the fight time could be changed to disrupt his man's training schedule.

If Booth is the giant in this contest, then the little man is in Valuev's corner. There's a brilliant picture in The Times this morning of his trainer and manager Alexander Zimin. If the Russian steps straight out of the pages of Gulliver's travels where he visited the land of the giants, then Zimin comes from another section where he went to the land of the little people.

He stands barely five feet tall, and is still shorter than his boxer when the 36-year-old WBA heavyweight champion is sat on his stool! Yet inside the tiny frame is a monster of a boxing brain.

Zimin was the man who was responsible for training the boxing team run by the old Soviet Union in the days when they had to do little more than turn up at The Olympics to collect a bag full of gold and silver medals. He then worked in Japan with flyweight boxers before coming back to get the gig to remodel Valuev after he'd lost his title to a majority points decision against Ruslan Chagaev in 2007.

Since then, he claims, he has completely transformed Valuev's training and given him movement to go with his size. He's slimmer, fitter, quicker, with faster punching and a genuine jab.

That was only just beginning to show when he won a majority points decision against Evander Holyfield last December. When it went beyond round five the Russian began to make use of his new weapon. Nearly a year's further work will have added more threat to the one shot which will help Valuev make proper use of his greater size and reach.

For all Haye's pedigree from his days as the undisputed cruiserweight champion I still can't see why he should be odds on at [1.7] to win a fight against a man mountain who is so much taller and heavier. And I'm also surprised it's odds on at between [1.75] and [1.9] for it to go the distance, simply because of the punching power that either fighter can summon up. Both bets are well worth laying.

The key questions are whether Valuev can add enough boxing skill to his height and weight to land the blow that will matter; or if Haye has thought out his strategy well enough to hit and run as often as he'll need to. The answers will come back to the men in the corners. Like I said, it promises to be a fascinating under card.

Five things you might not know about Adam Booth

1. His father is a Turkish Cypriot - one of the reasons they set up Haye's training base in Cyprus when Hayemaker Promotions was founded.

2. Booth was 11 when he first fell in love with boxing, but never progressed beyond junior status himself.

3. He studied anatomy, physiology and injury rehabilitation and ran his own sports injury clinic

4. He first trained Haye in the amateur ranks - a relationship that peaked when he scored silver at the 2001 World Amateur Championships (becoming the first and only Briton to reach the final of amateur boxing's toughest tournament)

5. His reputation as a physical trainer extends beyond boxing. He acted as health consultant for Kylie Minogue on her comeback tour

Tags: Adam Booth, Alexander Zimin, David Haye, Evander Holyfield, Nikolay Valuev