Denis Boytsov, called by everyone “Russian Tyson“, died at the age of 40, taking his championship titles and records to another world, as well as the big secret of how the strongest man on the planet ended up badly beaten and thrown between the subway tracks in Berlin. The sad news of his death was reported by the press service of the Center for Physical Culture and Sports Events. And his father - Nikolai Boytsov, explained that the cause was a dislodged blood clot.
Boytsov's life began like a fairy tale. He first entered the ring at the age of 5, and in his amateur career he had only 15 losses out of 130 matches. At the age of 18, he switched to professional boxing. The year is 2004, and when the great Mike Tyson watches one of his matches, he declares him a worthy successor. A year later, the American boxer ends his career, and Boytsov receives the nickname "Russian Tyson".
Over the next 10 years, he plays 37 matches, winning 36 of them, 27 by knockout. He receives the World Boxing Council (WBC) youth heavyweight title, then the World Boxing Association (WBA) intercontinental title, and finally the World Boxing Organization (WBO) European title.
However, 2013 rewrites his fate. Surprisingly for everyone, he is defeated by the underdog Australian Alex Leapai by decision. The loss was devastating, because Boytsov entered the match with a perfect record of 33-0 and was the official WBO contender for Wladimir Klitschko's title. With his victory, Leapai literally stole Boytsov's right to fight Klitschko, and a year later the Ukrainian easily overtook him and retained his world champion title.
After the loss, Boytsov recorded three consecutive victories and again began to make his way to the top. However, just before the match, the incident occurred. On May 3, 2015, in Berlin, the Russian was found unconscious on the tracks in the tunnel between two Berlin subway stations with a severe head injury and wounds to his hands. He spent 7 weeks in an induced coma, underwent multiple head surgeries, and lost about 30 kg of weight, remaining disabled for life.
The official version of the German police, announced very quickly after the incident, was an “accident“. Cameras and witnesses showed that Boytsov was very drunk while celebrating the birth of his child and fell on the tracks alone, slipping. However, other versions later emerged. According to one, Boytsov left his long-time promoter Universum in Germany, whose boss Waldemar Kluh was later tried for blackmail, and moved to Sauerland Event. Denis's wife, Olga, openly stated to the media that her husband had received serious threats to his life because of this transfer. She is convinced that the incident was revenge for the Russian-German underworld.
The discovered traces of beating led many of his colleagues to declare that Denis was severely beaten by a group of Russians in Berlin and literally thrown into the subway tunnel to be written off as an “accident“. A curious point is that the German police quickly closed the case due to a lack of evidence of foreign interference, leaving the question of how no camera in the subway captured the exact moment of the fall or the possible pursuit of the athlete, which raises suspicions of a professionally organized ambush.
The boxer could not walk or talk, he communicated only with gestures. Sometimes his wife reported that his condition was stabilizing or that positive changes were visible.
"The clot broke off. They could do nothing, instant death. Three minutes and that was it. His wife fed him, he started to turn away. Suddenly he started to tremble, turned blue. And his whole life ended," said Nikolay Boytsov.