Vladimir Putin is tough. That’s the message conveyed by the pictures showing him shirtless on horseback, cuddling leopard cubs, and throwing his judo opponents to the floor that flood media sites in both Russia and the west.

These photos don’t deter Benjamin Wittes, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and editor-in-chief of its Lawfare blog, who threw down the gauntlet and challenged Putin to a fight. While he didn’t go so far as to call Putin a pansy, Wittes emphasized that he wasn’t about to back down from the challenge.