Lucas Browne was given plenty of warnings about how dangerous Chechnya is before he flew there in 2016 to fight Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA heavyweight world title.
As it turned out, he didn't need to worry too much. The people of Grozny - the Chechen capital - were warm and welcoming, and 'Big Daddy' even became something of a fan favourite.
But while the locals may have been accomodating, it was Chechnya's fearsome leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, Browne had to worry about.
A big supporter of boxers and MMA fighters in the region, Kadyrov can throw 'em as well, and isn't afraid to lace on a pair of gloves.
The dictator's fondness for stepping into the ring nearly spelled disaster for Browne.
It was two days before his bout with Chagaev, and when the Aussie walked into a gym in downtown Grozny for his open workout, Kadyrov was there, hands wrapped and apparently ready for a training session.
The president did some shadow boxing and light sparring with a local fighter, before stepping down from the ring for some press interviews and photos.
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"He's basically a big child - that's how I'd describe him," Browne tells Sporting News.
"Anything he did, everyone was like 'yeah, that's the greatest thing we've ever seen.'
"So, he did all his stuff, and we took a photo, and he basically just went 'bang' and punched me in the stomach as hard as he could. I wasn't ready for it.
"It was more of a shock. It was a hard punch, don't get me wrong, but I was completely shocked - I didn't know what to do."
In another life, Browne was a renowned bouncer on doors around Kings Cross and Western Sydney. Not a man to be messed with.
The old Lucas Browne wouldn't have hesitated to respond to a suckerpunch with decisive and overwhelming physical force. Not this time, though.
"I didn't know what I was supposed to do," Browne says.
"I asked my minder - my armed guard - 'if I had done anything, what would've happened?'
"He goes, 'we'd shoot you.'"
It wasn't the only time Browne's security background came in handy on the trip.
When he eventually did step inside the ring and caused a huge boilover by knocking out Chagaev in the 10th round, he made sure not to celebrate too hard.
"When I won the fight, my hands went up, but there wasn't a sound in the crowd," he says.
"My manager's jumped the ropes and is going 'yeahhhh' and I've just gone 'shut the f**k up.'
"My security mode kicked in and I just thought we had to get out of here now. The president basically stood up and walked off.
"I looked at (ring announcer Michael) Buffer and asked if I could say anything, and he said no, so I just walked out with my armed guards and away we went.
"We just had to get out of here alive."
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