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From Russia, with gloves: Meet NZ's 'mad' boxing legend in the making

Dylan Cleaver
By
Sports Editor at Large·NZ Herald·
15 mins to read

WARNING: this story contains strong language that might be offensive to some.

When Paula and Marcel Driessen travelled to St Petersburg, Russia, to adopt twin boys from one of the city's Soviet-era orphanages, they had little idea they would be returning with "Hercules, the conqueror, a legend".

Some 12 years later, when the 14-year-old Andrei had been drinking alcohol for three years and smoking Kronic (synthetic cannabis) and weed to alleviate the boredom of West Auckland suburban life, the Driessens

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