Tall stories...

Valuev: meaty diet

David Haye has given himself a man mountain to climb by taking on Nikolai Valuev.

The Beast From The East is the tallest and heaviest world champion the sport has ever seen.

Hayemaker on Box Office

But there is more to Valuev than meets even the most upwardly-gazing eye. He is in his second stint as WBA champion and outside of the ring, is clearly a patron of the arts.

To mark your card skysports.com's Tim Hobbs has done some digging around and come up with 10 things you never knew about Nikolai Valuev - and probably never needed to...

1 - GOOGLE THAT!
Valuev was born on August 21, 1973 - the same day as Google co-founder and compatriot Sergey Brin. He also shares a birthday with Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall and country singer, Kenny Rodgers.

2 - THE WRITE STUFF
He is a man of words, having written an award-winning book called My 12 Rounds with Russian journalist Konstantin Osipov. He also used poetry to woo his wife, Galya.

3 - FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
He also has an acting career and played the main role in a recent film, Stonehead, when he played an ex-boxer who lost his memory. The film took the main prize at the movie festival Window to Europe.

4 - HIGH HOOPS
During his youth Valuev was an all-round sportsman. He was a keen water polo and - surprise, surprise - basketball player, as well as a discus thrower.

5 - AMATEUR DRAMATICS
Valuev was unbeaten in a relatively short career as an amateur. He won all 23 fights, 16 by knockout, before turning pro in 1993.

6 - PANDA CAR
The heaviest Valuev has weighed for a fight is the 333lbs he scaled for his bout with Alarim Uysal in 1997. That is heavier than your average panda - or a small Japanese electric car.

7 - SHOE BUSINESS
He is said to wear a size 18½ shoe. Shaquille O'Neal's basketball boots are size 22 while Peter Crouch sports a dainty 14½ football boot.

8 - JUMPING ROPE
He has been known to step over the top rope to ge into the ring. Haye's last opponent, Monte Barrett, couldn't make it and took a tumble trying to jump over it.

9 - ARMS RACE
Valuev's reach has been measured at 85 inches, or 7ft 1in, an inch taller than the world's tallest recorded dog, a Great Dane. Haye himself only stands at 6ft 3in.

10 - MEAT FEAST
He hunts deer, ducks and wild boar in his spare time and goes fishing with his son. And by his own admission, eats three kilos of meat a day.