BERLIN, (Reuters) – Towering world heavyweight  champion Nikolai Valuev weighed in seven stones heavier than  Britain’s David Haye ahead of their WBA title bout in Nuremberg today.

The challenger took to the scales at 15 stones eight pounds  (99 kg), his heaviest ever, with the Germany-based Russian  weighing in lighter than usual at 22 stones eight pounds (143  kg).

Former world cruiserweight champion Haye, who takes a 21-1  record into the bout with the ‘Beast from the East’, is almost a  foot shorter than his seven foot (2.13 metres) opponent.

Valuev is the tallest and heaviest world champion of all  time and has yet to be floored or knocked out in his 16-year  professional career, with only one defeat in 51 bouts.

“They call him David versus Goliath,” American boxing  promoter Don King told Sky Sports News. “The only thing that is  wrong is that David left his stones in his slingshot in the UK.  So he’s in trouble.”