This is a real story. I'm totally serious. Former heavyweight titleholder Nikolai Valuev hasn't fought since a November 2009 loss to David Haye and may never fight again due to injury issues, but he's not going away from the public eye just yet.

No, the seven-foot tall, 38-year-old Valuev will soon lead a search for the Russian Yeti:

The beast has been spotted dozens of times in the Kuzbass region of southern Siberia and has become something of a tourist attraction in the local area, with hotels and restaurants naming themselves after it. The mystery creature even has its own Twitter account, presumably set up by some bright spark at the local tourist board.

... "I would like to see firsthand what is going on," said the boxer, who has had all manner of injections and vaccinations ahead of his expedition to the remote region. "I'll draw my own conclusions once I've been there."

If you would like to learn more about this, for some reason, there's a video about the Russian Yeti after the jump.

Thank God Nikolai Valuev is going to get on the case here.