Nikolai Valuev v Monte Barrett

Nikolai Valuev retained his WBA heavyweight title with an 11th-round stoppage of American challenger Monte Barrett in Chicago.

The 328lb Russian dropped Barrett twice in the 11th round before the fight was halted with 48 seconds remaining with the American staggering against the ropes.

Valuev, who remains undefeated, said: “The victory wasn’t easy tonight and Monte Barrett really tried hard.

“I haven’t fought in the US for a long time so this was a whole new thing for me. To be honest, I was a little nervous. I need to settle down more.

“I knew after the fourth or fifth round I was going to win. I’m never fully satisfied with my performance. My coach said I made a lot of mistakes. I hope to perform even better next time I fight.”

However, he refused to be drawn on potential opponents. On the undercard, Poland’s Tomasz Adamek took a majority points decision against Australian Paul Briggs to retain the WBC light-heavyweight crown.