“You must learn one thing: you cannot beat people outside the ring. It’s a weapon that you can’t use. In my whole life I’ve been in street fights three or four times. Somebody wanted to hit me and actually did hit me and I had to defend myself. Usually the fight was finished after one punch.”

Tszyu, who has been living in Australia since 1992, says he studied yoga for years and learnt to control himself. “It helped me so much in my career! I’ve learnt to block my nerves very easily.”

“As a professional, I put pressure from the first second to the last second. It’s mental pressure, physical and psychological pressure. I’m not trying to hit somebody. Just to be there is enough pressure. To be honest, it’s huge pressure for somebody not ready for it.”

Tszyu retired in 2005 after losing his world title in a fight against British boxer Ricky Hatton. Since then he’s devoted his whole time and energy to charity work and his family.

“My fourteen-year-old son has started a boxing career after playing soccer for eight years. Last year he told me he wants to be a boxer. I warned him it’d be twice as hard for him as for any other, because everybody will compare him to me.”

“I’ve achieved everything possible in sport. I’m on top, you can’t go higher. But in life I’m in the beginning of my journey. My motivation has always been very high. When I started my career I knew from day one that I’m going to become world champion.”

“Sometimes you say, ‘I can’t do this’. I’ll tell you something I’ve learnt – never say ‘I can’t do it’. You can say, ‘maybe I cannot do it now’.”

So what’s the diet of the man who is so hard on himself? “Water is my best drink. I take some vitamins and I don’t smoke. I’m a morning person.”

Now, Kostya Tszyu is currently looking to open boxing schools across Russian to help bring up a new generation of world champions.

Valeria Paikova, RT