THE SOVIET school/style of boxing — think Bivol, think Usyk, think Golovkin, think Kovalev, and think the Klitschko brothers — traces its roots to the famed boxing schools of the now non-existent communist state.

These were the breeding grounds for the development of the tactical acumen and technical precision within a fighter’s armoury.

It was devised as a response to the challenges posed by opponents, rather than the reliance on sheer personal toughness and determination.