Known for his massive size and brute strength, he was recognized as one of the top three strongmen in the world by Alan Calvert, a pioneer of American weight training, and photographer Edmond Desbonnet during the turn of the century.

Prior to his arrival in the United States, he remained undefeated in his near four-year career and successfully challenged Evan "Strangler" Lewis for the American Heavyweight Championship in 1898.

Yusuf Ismail was the original wrestler to be known as "the Terrible Turk", but several others, including Kızılcıklı Mahmut (promoted as his son)[2] and Armenian-American Robert Manoogian, also used the name throughout the first half of the 20th century.

Edmond Desbonnet claimed in his book Les Rois de la Lutte (1910) that the Turkish invasion began in 1894 after a wrestler named Joseph Doublier was defeated by a rival, Sabès.

In search of someone who could defeat Sabès, Doublier visited Turkey and brought back three wrestlers: Kara Osman, Nurullah Hasan, and the 6'2", 250-pound Yusuf Ismail.

When rivals Antonio Pierri and Tom Cannon threatened to bring in a wrestler to defeat him, Ismail reportedly said he would cut his own throat if he was ever beaten.

He described their encounter years later to Nat Fleischer in his book From Milo to Londos (1937): He was a modern Hercules and he knew how to apply his punishing strength, as he was as quick as a jungle cat and master of all holds.

It was several days before I could look in the direction I was headed.He was undefeated prior to his arrival in New York until his disqualification in a match against World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Champion Ernest Roeber at Madison Square Garden on March 26, 1898.

Referee Hugh Leonard awarded the match to Roeber and, with calls to "Kill the Turk" and threats of lynching from those in attendance, Ismail was escorted by police to his dressing room.

When Fitzsimmons attempted to intervene, several fans stormed the ring and referee Herman Wolff declared the match a no-contest before the event could once again end in a near-riot.

[7] Shortly after his victory over Lewis, Ismail took the first ship back to Europe, where he reportedly planned to open a coffee or bazaar in his native village near Shumen.

[8][9][10] Other journalists and surviving passengers claim to have seen "the Terrible Turk" throw women and children overboard trying to reach the lifeboats; however no mention of this was included in the official report and is generally assumed to have originated by Ismail's manager and promoter William Brady, who went on to become a successful Broadway producer.