Russian boxer Nikolai Valuev, the tallest and heaviest ever WBA heavyweight world champion, is leading an expedition to explore Yeti sightings in West Siberia.

Earlier on Thursday Valuev, accompanied by a 40-strong delegation of anthologists and journalists, visited the Azass Cave in the Kemerovo region's Mount Shoriya. The cave is famous for a fossilized footprint of an unidentified creature that some suggest may be the much sought after Yeti.

The sportsman, who is 213 cm (7'0" feet) tall and weighs over 140 kg (some 315 lbs), discovered that Yeti's footprint was about the same size as his. "I'm wearing shoes, so my boot just makes the foot a bit bigger," Valuev said.

Asked whether he really believed in Bigfoot, Valuev said that he would not believe in it until he met him. Or her.

A web camera installed in the cave has so far failed to record the presence of any unidentified creatures.

In February 2009, the Kemerovo regional administration released a report that local hunters had spotted "some hairy humanoid creatures with a height of 1.5-2 meters" near the Azass Cave.

The report was illustrated with a photograph from inside the cave, showing the footprint of an unidentified creature.

Several advertising and PR experts said that Bigfoot reports were probably attempts to attract tourists to the region. Three months after the news, travel agencies were offering excursions to "the Yeti's Cave."