Valuev beats Holyfield to keep WBA title

ZURICH, Switzerland, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Russian Nikolay Valuev kept his WBA heavyweight title Saturday with a majority decision victory over 46.-year-old Evander Holyfield.

Holyfield had not been in the ring since losing a unanimous decision to Sultan Ibragimov in October 2007. The former four-time heavyweight champ held his own in the title bout before ultimately losing on two scorecards -- 116-112 and 115-114 -- while the third card called it a draw.

The 7-foot, 311-pound Valuev (50-1) has yet to face a true test in the ring and his lackluster performance against Holyfield (42-10-2) hurt his standing in the rankings.

Valuev captured the vacant WBA title in August with a 12-round unanimous decision over John Ruiz.