PUTIN'S GIANT WARRIOR OF 213 CM AND 150 KG: Meet the man who got Serbia on its feet!

When I was little, my father taught me: do not ever a fight with a boxer.

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"They are small, but they are f*cked up. You have to hit them ten times in order for them to fall, by then they will strike you 10 times."

Now multiply all this by 2 meters and 13 centimeters and 150 kilos of muscle!

You get Nikolai Valuev, a former world champion in boxing, "the Russian giant" who got Serbia on its feet and appeared in the Temple of Saint Sava, at the opening of the exhibition dedicated to the Russian imperial Romanov family.

This story is about him.

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Nikolai Valuev is the biggest boxing champion in history. When we say the biggest, we mean exactly that - biggest by size. No one taller and heavier has ever entered the boxing ring. In his career, he had 53 box matches. He won 50 times, was knocked out 34 times, lost twice, on points of course, and had one match invalid match.

Of course, because Valuev has never been shaken-down in his career, let alone knocked out.

Born in 1973 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). His mother and father were of average height - 168 and 175 cm. But everyone in the family remembered his grandfather, a giant Tatar, a member of the warrior nation that became a legend for his martial skills, courage and warrior skills.

Nikolai took after his grandfather. He grew to 213 centimeters, surprisingly nimble and quick for such a large man, and bore an embedded "chip" to fight, to win. His cold, distant eyes hide a succession of Tatars, suggesting the cries of many who were conquered by creating a large Kanata ... "Even when Valuev laughs," wrote the reporters, "It looks like a smile of someone who is about to do something terrible."

His boxing story began in 1993 in Germany. He was brought from St. Petersburg, and wanted to take part in boxing. Whoever understands this martial art, knows that 20 years of age is not an ideal time to learn the basics. However, one look at the giant Russian, Tatar in his eyes, was enough of a signal for experienced promoters.

Foto: Profimedia/AFP

In the next 10 years, Valuev learned the basics of boxing, and his startling appearance attracted audiences. Soon,  the legend of the "steel giant who knocks out" was circling the world.

Despite the scary stories, and scary-look, the leading boxer heavyweight was not, some would say with reason, taken seriously. Because boxing is a skill - it is mastered for decades. Valuev was still a relatively slow giant, who came into the ring for the first time at the age of 20. Many warned: no body could beat a Larry Donald and Clifford Etienne, if they are not a superior boxer.

Foto: Milena Đorđević

Maybe that's why John Ruiz was defeated. In 2005, no one gave much chance to Valuev winning the WBA title. Ruiz was a skilled fighter, tough, hardened, technically perfect, with the will to win and all kinds of professional tricks, but tricks that are taught only in the street. Nobody believed that an "amateur", no matter how large, could endanger the true champion of the world.

But no told him how strong Valuev really was. Nobody told him that the man simply does not feel pain, does not feel the shocks that normal humans do. Nobody told him how incredibly fast Valuev was, how valuable that is when such a large man possess it. In elementary schools in Puerto Rico, they do not teach you the lessons of the Tartars, and why the world once feared them.

Ruiz lost. Valuev became world champion. Russia has won. The world finally got a champion like out of the movies.

Next up was Owen Beck from South Africa. Owen flew to the floor in the third round. After him, Monte Barrett, who ended in the eleventh. Followed by Jamil Mc Clane. A break in the third. A third world title defendent.

In April 2007, Valuev faced the biggest obstacle in his career. Ruslan Čagajev, then known as the "White Tyson", boxed in his mortal form. Many say he boxed just like Tyson in his best days, and regularly beat the Klitschko brothers that remained in the present form.

Čagajev was quick, handy, durable, powerful. Čagajev was thirsty for victory. Čagajev shared something else with Valuev, something very important: his ancestors, together with the ancestors of Nikolai, they rode the wild steppes of Siberia. Čagajev Tatar, just like Valuev. His icy stare did not work on him. When Valuev brought the ancient furies that he once used to win whole nations, Čagajev would welcome him with the same anger.

Twelve rounds later, Čagajeva's hand is in the air. A head bow to the giant and a fraternal greeting to the two warriors from the same tribe.

And then, when the media finally met to declare the "circus" finished, Valuev did something no one expected. In another battle, he won, convincingly, the great hope of the Canadian Jean-Francois Bergeron. Then the mighty Belarus Sergei Ljahoviča. Heads of the WBA decided to allow John Ruiz a rematch, allowing the two another chance for the title after three years.

And again, Ruiz could not understand: he was a better boxer, he knew more of these tricks, he was willing, he was everything, that according to textbooks, won the fight. But again Valuev, with his strength and insensitivity to pain, and his Tatar view...defeated Ruiz again.

The next title defense was against the legendary Ivander Holyfield. It must be said, Holyfield was in his later years (he was 46). Valuev received. And after that, the end.

The next and last match of Nikolai's career was the great British hope David Hey. Hey, was a tremendously fast and tremendously gifted lightweight who switched into heavy, and thought it would be easy to deal with giant. In this game (Valuev was already 35 years old) it was easy to his limitations in the ring. Hey was much faster, more accurate, more agile ... Valuev aimed directly, boxed disciplined, but he could not guess correctly. Finally - judges had a divided opinion. One draw, two for Hay.

Nikolai had enough. He achieved everything he wanted in boxing. He earned money and warrior scars. At home, a beautiful wife and three children were waiting for him. The champion retired from the ring.

And entered the Duma as a deputy of Putin's party "United Russia". Shoulder to shoulder with Alexander Karelin, about which we wrote about here in the Telegraf.

(Telegraf.co.uk)