The world of boxing has played host to a series of giants, from Tyson Fury to Anthony Joshua, but one retired champion dwarfs them all.
Heavyweight boxing is far removed from the era of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Though there were tall heavyweights such as Lennox Lewis and the Klitschko brothers, modern heavyweight boxing has ushered in an era of giants.
Nowadays, almost every top fighter stands taller than their pugilist predecessors, with big names such as Daniel Dubois – who recently sent a warning to rival Joseph Parker – as well as Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, and Deontay Wilder all standing between 6’5″ and 6’9″.
Despite their sheer size, they are not unbeatable, with 6’3″ Oleksandr Usyk highlighting in his back-to-back victories against ‘The Gypsy King’ and Lennox Lewis attributing Fury’s loss to Usyk’s work rate.
These losses forced Tyson Fury into retirement, though perhaps not for long as Fury does have a ‘serious’ announcement coming soon.
This is not the first time a smaller fighter has beaten the odds and toppled a giant. In fact, 2009 saw what may be the biggest David vs Goliath moment ever in boxing.
Nikolai Valuev became member of parliament after loss to David Haye
With a record of 50-1, coming off the back of a win over Evander Holyfield, 7-foot giant Nikolai Valuev was set to defend his world heavyweight title against 6’3″ Brit David Haye.
The fight, billed appropriately as David vs Goliath, saw Haye take on the tallest heavyweight to have ever boxed and beat him.
Following the fight, which even saw Valuev wobbled at one point, the Russian giant hung up the gloves and moved instead into politics.
Valuev is now a Russian State Duma lawmaker, and has been involved in numerous initiatives to promote both boxing and bandy, Russia’s national sport.
Interestingly, Valuev is just one of multiple boxers to have moved into politics, with Manny Pacquiao and Vitali Klitschko being the most notable others.
He has, however, been in hot water at times, suggesting to Interskol that Russia ought to go to the Olympics and ‘tear everyone apart’ after Russia was suspended from the games.
Nikolai Valuev is banned from Azerbaijan after offensive remarks
Valuev has most recently found himself in controversy as Azerbaijan have banned the Russian from entering their country following alleged ‘anti-Azeri’ statements.
An official statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says:
‘Due to the statements made by this deputy against Azerbaijan, his name has been added to the list of individuals banned from entering the Republic of Azerbaijan, and a ban has been imposed on his entry.’
This comes after the boxer-turned-lawmaker wrote the following on Telegram:
‘This entire crowd should be put through the legal filter. Illegal migration, tax evasion, corporate raids, and other ‘interesting’ activities will come to light soon enough.’