Texsox Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I'm not a boxing fan, but this caught my attention. That guy is freakin' huge. Next Big Thing By Kim Murphy, Times Staff Writer MOSCOW — In any boxing club, sweat is part of the ambience, but in Russia, the sweat factor usually scores a one-two punch to the nose right from the doorway, reminding all who enter of what it smells like to be a nastoyashi muzhik, a real Russian man. On the wall of a small neighborhood boxing club in northwest Moscow, there is a huge, grainy photo of Stanislav Stepashkin, the 1964 Olympic featherweight champion who was one of Russia's early claims to international boxing fame, and a real Russian man if there ever was one. ADVERTISEMENT Stepashkin agreed two years ago to serve as president of the club, and the neighborhood boys here renamed it in his honor. These days, another photo hangs on the dank walls next to Stepashkin's, and while the picture isn't bigger, the man assuredly is: Nikolay Valuev, crowned in December as Russia's first World Boxing Assn. heavyweight champion. Valuev himself strode into the gym recently during his triumphant return to Russia after the title bout, in which he defeated American John Ruiz on a controversial decision in Berlin to become the tallest (7 feet) and heaviest (323 pounds) world champion in history. He's so big he usually steps into the ring over the top rope … so big that the adolescent pugilists at the Stepashkin Club would have barely been able to land a hook as high as his belly, if they had the nerve to try. Most just craned their necks and gawked, or melted into nervous grins. "I don't know about the world, but here in Russia, he's been very famous for a long time. For the kids here, this is such an emotional thing," said Alexei Barsukov, a former trainer who came back for the spread of iced tortes, fresh fruit and champagne laid out in the manager's office in Valuev's honor. In the rest of the world, Valuev, 32, is known as the "Beast from the East" (promoter Don King wants to call him "King Kong" when he defends his title in the U.S.), but in his homeland, he is more often known as the "Russian Giant." His brain is played up here as much as his brawn — a boxer who reads Tolstoy and writes poetry to his wife? — along with his diffident, quiet demeanor. "You can't impose your own manner of fighting on him, and that's because of his life position. He's very calm, and very, very controlled," Barsukov said. Added Vladimir Grachev, boxing coach at the club: "You have a person born with such a physique once in a hundred years. Such a build, and such an intellect — Russia may not get another such man in our lifetimes." Valuev's homecoming has been marred by an incident Jan. 19 in his hometown of St. Petersburg, where he was accused of beating a security guard who had directed his wife Galina — rudely, she said — to move her car when she brought the couple's 3-year-old son, Grigory, to skating lessons at a local sports club. The guard, a 61-year-old pensioner, has been hospitalized for the last week with a concussion and bruises to the chest. Valuev has said he was only standing up for his wife and child. "I tried to [push him] a little bit," the boxer said at a news conference Wednesday. "… There was a lot of black ice in that parking lot. What can I say? He slipped and fell. Now everybody is screaming that I began to beat him up horribly." But a club employee contradicted that account. In a telephone interview, he said the confrontation took place inside the building's vestibule, not outside on the ice. "I saw a huge man holding a small man with his left hand by the back of his jacket collar. The head of the small man was all hidden inside the jacket, while the big man was hitting him on the head, quickly and viciously," said Alexander Legoshin, 58. "At first the small man screamed, 'Nikolay, Nikolay!' I recognized the voice, it was Yuri Sergeyev, the guard. And suddenly, I realized that the big man was Nikolay Valuev, the boxing champion. "Valuev's eyes were so wild that I understood that if I interfered, he would do me in, too." He said the boxer hit the guard about 10 times in the head, then gave him a sharp uppercut to the chest, sending the man's body flying and landing with a thud. He finished it off with two more light blows, Legoshin said. After the boxer left, Legoshin said, Sergeyev stood up and confronted Valuev's wife. " 'Why? I didn't say anything bad to you,' " he said, according to Legoshin. " 'But what about your tone?' she said, turned around, and left." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Suprised he's not a Basketballer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSH2005 Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I could take him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilJester99 Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 He would be one of those you hope you can kick a knee out or kick him in the nuts and run like hell!! You'd be much better off not messing with him though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palehosefan Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Guy sounds like a winner beating up 61 year old security guards. What an intellectual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Tizzle Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I'm sure the account of the man's beating is over dramatized a bit. You don't withstand 10 punches to the face, an uppercut to the chest, and several soft blows from a professional boxer and only walk away with a concussion and chest bruises. Doesn't matter, anyways. Nothing will happen to him. Could have killed the man and Russia would have looked the other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamTell Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 haha what a beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Kickass Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 The pictures attached to that article are stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeNukeEm Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Thats how big Shaq is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosMediasBlancas Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 I kinda follow boxing and if this guy won a decision, a controversial one at that, over John Ruiz, then he's not much of a boxer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 The incarnation of Ivan Drago before our very eyes. This guy looks half bear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg The Bull Luzinski Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 I think we should spread peanut butter on Mike Tyson and let this guy take a bight out of Tyson. I would even throw in a shot of Vodka to help him wash it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_genius Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 12:22 AM) he's not much of a boxer. ^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosMediasBlancas Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Jan 29, 2006 -> 09:38 AM) The incarnation of Ivan Drago before our very eyes. This guy looks half bear. "I must break you" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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