He also happens to be the undisputed, undefeated light-heavyweight champion of the world, and as such he will be defending his titles against British challenger Anthony Yarde at Wembley this Saturday night.

How come? Aren't all Russians pariahs, supposedly banned from competing in sport in the United Kingdom and many other countries?

The loophole is his decision to compete under the Canadian flag, having moved there at the start of his professional career and recently acquiring Canadian citizenship.

Beterbiev was born and brought up in Khasavyurt, a small town in southern Russia, the country he represented in two Olympic Games as an amateur.

The same goes for Elena Rybekina, who last year won the women's singles title at Wimbledon and is currently on course to reach the final of the Australian Open. 

She was born and bred in Moscow, where she learned her tennis before slipping over the border to Kazakhstan, the nation she now conveniently represents.

All this may sound like geo-political jiggery-pokers but it is perfectly legal in the eyes of international sports authorities, most of whom continue to ostracise competitors residing in Russia and Belarus over Vladimir Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine and the awful atrocities being committed there.

Beterbiev's situation is an interesting one. 

Not only is he undefeated but his record is fearsome, having knocked out or brutally stopped all of his 18 opponents. 

He is 6-1 on to beat Yarde, probably Britain's most athletic champion - a 10 second 100 metres sprinter who was offered trials to play rugby for Harlequins and football for Queens Park Rangers.

However, Beterbiev has just turned 38, and was put down himself by another Briton Callum Johnson, before knocking him out in the fourth round.

"Everywhere he hits you, it hurts," Johnson said about Beterbiev.

However, Yarde is no mean slugger and came close to winning the title in Russia a couple of years back. 

He had won virtually every round when against another massive puncture, Sergei Kovalev, before he walked into one he didn't see coming. 

Just as Chris Eubank Junior did against Liam Smith last Saturday.

I have always liked Yarde, who had a traumatic time during the pandemic, losing five relatives, including his father and grandfather to COVID-19.

I have a hunch that he might cause a seismic upset.

This is not the first time Beterbiev has fought in London. 

He reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 0lympics in a bout which, as it turned out, had an ironic twist.

For the man who beat him was a Ukrainian - Oleksandr Usyk - last seen here relieving another Olympic champion from 2012, Anthony Joshua, of his world heavyweight title belts and now set for a mega showdown with Tyson Fury.