Nikolai Vahturov
Posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2022 by John Wood
After graduating high school, Nikolai Vahturov worked as a cashier on a steam ship and was then drafted into the army, where, as luck would have it, he served along side Mitrofan, the brother of the famous wrestler Ivan Poddubny.
Mitrofan talked so greatly of his brother and his victories over world-class wrestlers that Nikolai decided to follow the same path. In St. Petersburg, Mitrofan eventually introduced Nikolai to his famous brother and Ivan Podduby, seeing his great potential, took Nikolai under his wing as a student.
Vahturov’s ring exploits are spotty, not much is easily found in English this side of the Volga but it appears that he won the Graeco-Roman World Heavyweight championship in 1909 and 1913 (evidently defeating Jaan Jaago in the former.