Nikolai Valuev wanted to make a good impression. Well, this wasn't bad.

Rather obscure despite his size and title belt, Valuev retained the WBA heavyweight championship Saturday night when he stopped Monte Barrett in the 11th round to remain undefeated.

The largest heavyweight champion ever, the seven-foot, 328-pound Valuev (45-0, 33 knockouts) knocked down Barrett twice in the 11th, and the fight was stopped 2:12 into the round after a left jab left the challenger glassy-eyed and staggering against the ropes.

``This victory wasn't easy,'' Valuev said. ``Monte really tried hard. I knew after the fourth or fifth round I would win.''

Valuev floored Barrett in the eighth and pounced on the challenger in the 11th after he tripped. Barrett (31-5) quickly found himself back on the canvas after being knocked down, but got up. He got up again after the second knockdown of the round.

Valuev continued the barrage, and the fight ended when trainer James Ali Basheer jumped into the ring.

Now, the champion is within four wins of Rocky Marciano.

``Nikolai is not just another big guy,'' Basheer said. ``He's a good boxer. ... Nikolai Valuev is the champion and he should be respected as the champion.''

After winning the belt on a disputed decision over John Ruiz in Berlin last December, Valuev stopped Jamaican challenger Owen Beck in the third round in Hanover, Germany, in June. The longest reigning heavyweight champion, he was fighting for just the third time in the United States and making his first appearance in the country in more than five years. So he considered this an introduction.

``I haven't fought in the U.S. in a long time, so this was a new thing to me,'' Valuev said. ``To be honest, I was a little nervous and need to settle down more.''

The fighters threw nearly the same number of punches _ 459 for Valuev and 440 for Barrett.

But the champion landed 186, while Barrett connected on 127 (29 per cent). Valuev also had better control of his power punches, landing 126 of 283 while the challenger was 88-of-281.

Barrett, wearing pink gloves that will be auctioned to raise money for breast cancer charities, landed a solid left to the head in the fourth. Valuev's mouth was bleeding after taking a series of punches in the sixth.

But most of the solid punches Barrett landed barely fazed Valuev.

The champion landed a hard jab in the seventh _ something he hadn't really done to that point _ and caught Barrett with several rights as he tried to get away from the corner later in the round.

Barrett staggered into the ropes after a right in the eighth and went down for an eight count with about a minute left in the round after a left and right hook.

Barrett had not fought since a unanimous 12-round loss to his friend Hasim Rahman in a lacklustre bout at the United Center in August 2005, and he had not fared well against tall fighters. He dropped a split decision to the 6-8 Lance Whitaker in 1999 and suffered a technical knockout against 6-6 Wladimir Klitschko in London the following year.

Although he was in good shape, Barrett had trouble shaking off the rust from his layoff and asked promoter Don King ``as a personal favour'' to give him more fights.

``I need to be more active as a fighter,'' Barrett said.

On Saturday, he was trying to break the former Soviet Union's monopoly on heavyweight championships _ one that developed this year when Klitschko won the IBF belt, Sergei Liakhovich took the WBO titles and Oleg Maskaev claimed the WBC strap.

``He's a strong guy,'' Barrett said. ``My feelings are hurt, but I'm OK.''

King praised Basheer for jumping into the ring and said, ``I think Monte Barrett put on a show. He was better than anytime I had seen him.''

He also reiterated his desire for a tournament to unify the heavyweight belts, saying ``No one really knows who the champion is.''