Why the great Russian wrestler named his cat Raul: the story of the assassination attempt on Ivan Poddubny

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Everyone knows Ivan Poddubny as a famous professional athlete and wrestler who performed in the first half of the 20th century. His name has become a household name. Poddubny participated in a huge number of fights, and almost always won. However, he also had an adversary with whom many torments and disappointments are associated. Read in the material how Poddubny fought with Le Boucher, why the Frenchman won, how he wanted to squeeze the Russian athlete out of the world, but as a result he himself went into another world.

The beginning of a career in the circus and the influence of Raoul Le Boucher

Ivan Poddubny began to act as the strongest wrestler and athlete in circuses, but gradually he became interested in classical French wrestling. He had a dream - to have a duel with the strongest wrestlers from different countries of the world. At the very beginning of the 20th century, the Moscow Championship was held in Russia, in which European wrestlers took part. Poddubny did not take part in the competition.

The winner was a young French competitor, Raoul Le Boucher. He was only eighteen years old, but he lived up to his last name (it translates as "butcher") and won over the most eminent athletes. In particular, he defeated Gabriel Lasartess and Michael Hitzler. It was a sensation. Raoul became popular and was praised by fans of classical French wrestling all over Europe. True, is it rumored that Le Boucher became so popular at home, since he had connections in the criminal circles of Paris.

How Poddubny lost to Boucher and why the Frenchman's victory was dishonest

For the first time, Poddubny went abroad as a professional wrestler in 1903. It was a tournament held in Paris with many European favorites among the participants. The Russian athlete managed to win eleven victories! However, during the final, Poddubny, who was thirty-two at the time, lost to Le Boucher (he was already twenty years old). In fairness, it should be noted that Boucher did not manage to put Poddubny on his shoulder blades. His victory on points was due to the tactics of avoiding captures.

Ivan noticed that his opponent was using dishonest tricks: his body was thickly smeared with oil, which made it possible to elude Poddubny's hands. The Russian wrestler pointed this out to the judges, but they did not pay attention to the complaints. The only thing that was done was that the Frenchman was obliged to dry himself with a towel after each round. But the special oil remained on the skin and was not removed with a cloth. At the end of the fight, the victory was awarded to Raoul Le Boucher, and not for power and captures, but for the fact that he “beautifully and skillfully avoided tough techniques”. Poddubny was shocked. However, the audience also reacted very violently. The dishonest fight impressed the Russian wrestler so much that he decided to retire from professional wrestling. He developed a serious depression, Ivan refused to communicate and withdrew into himself.

Long-term depression and incredible victories of the Russian wrestler

Friends were very worried about Poddubny and tried to persuade him not to give up the fight. One of the arguments was this: you should definitely settle scores with the dishonest Frenchman.

In 1904, a championship among professional wrestlers in Europe was organized in St. Petersburg, and Ivan took part in it. He easily defeated several favorites. The moment has come to meet Le Boucher. This time, the Frenchman was not smeared with oil, and Poddubny very quickly made a power grip. He held the opponent for at least 20 minutes, and in a rather humiliating position - Le Boucher was on his knees and elbows. The audience rejoiced! The arbitrators waited some time. Then they stopped the fight and declared Poddubny the winner.

Le Boucher threw a terrible tantrum, in Ivan's words he "roared like a woman." Raoul unpleasantly impressed everyone with his behavior. And Poddubny took revenge on the cunning Frenchman, and besides, he spent a two-hour fight in which he defeated another French wrestler, namely the world champion Paul Pons. Ivan became the unconditional winner of the tournament.

Intricate crime story

However, the confrontation between Poddubny and Le Boucher did not end there. The Frenchman was greatly offended and dreamed of taking revenge on the "old Russian bear." From him there were frequent calls for a duel, but he did not succeed in winning.

Desperate, Raul decided to hire an assassin for Poddubny. Rumors claimed that this was possible due to Le Boucher's remaining criminal connections. It is almost impossible to check today. In 1906 and 1907, Ivan visited France. There is evidence that he told his acquaintances about the attacks committed on him, attempts to stab him. Fortunately, Poddubny's health did not suffer, which cannot be said about Le Bush. The Frenchman just at this time announced that he was retiring and would no longer participate in competitions. And after a while he became seriously ill. There is an official version, according to which the cause of death of young Raul is called acute meningitis as a consequence of the flu.

Nevertheless, when Le Boucher was brought to the hospital near Nice, he was accompanied by some "friends" (and not at all his beloved wife), and he tried to fight with them. Rumors spread around Paris that Raoul did not want to pay a hired killer who did not cope with the task - Poddubny remained alive and well. But jokes are bad with the mafia, and criminal acquaintances who knew very well about Le Boucher's wealth tried to knock out the promised fee from him. Most likely, they did not calculate the strength, and the wrestler left this world.

Perhaps Poddubny knew about what happened to his former rival. When in 1910 a Russian strongman got a cat (according to some sources, he was given it), he gave the animal the name Raul. They say that the relationship between the cat and the owner was very tense.

It is not for nothing that Russian heroes were famous throughout the world for their strength. For example, the famous Alexander Zass not only he carried a horse from the battlefield and caught people from a cannon, but also became the creator of the exercise system, which is still popular today.