Oleksandr Usyk is just days away from the biggest fight of his life as he prepares to challenge Anthony Joshua this Saturday night.
The pair will meet for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles and while Joshua may be viewed as the favourite, there are plenty of folks who understand just how much of a threat Usyk could is to a potential super-fight against Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder.
Today, we’re going to peel back the curtain and take a look at the man standing between AJ and history.
Football upbringing
Up until the age of 15, Usyk’s focus was on association football and potentially becoming a pro one day. He trained at SC Tavriya Simferopol and was an established part of their academy before eventually making the switch to boxing in 2002.
If he hadn’t have made that transition who knows where he’d be by now given his size and unbelievable athleticism.
Olympic champion
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Oleksandr Usyk achieved his lifelong goal of becoming an Olympic gold medalist – beating Artur Beterbiev, Tervel Pulev and Clemente Russo before retiring from amateur boxing with an insane 335-15 record. At that point he’d already written his name into the record books and from there on out, everything else was just a bonus.
Cruiserweight king
We’ve all been waiting to see what Usyk can really achieve at heavyweight but in summer 2018, the Ukrainian became a true legend of the sport as one of the only men to ever become an undisputed champion. He brought an end to his memorable rise to prominence at cruiser later that same year when he viciously knocked out Tony Bellew – another Brit who thought he could handle what “The Cat” had to offer.
“Bigger” Lomachenko?
One of the biggest compliments that can be afforded to Oleksandr Usyk is that he’s often been described as the heavier weight classes’ answer to Vasiliy Lomachenko. From his unbelievable footwork to his head movement and diverse shot selection, Usyk has the kind of range that makes him far, far scarier than a figure like Wilder who predominantly possesses one major weapon above all others.
Undefeated
He’s stepped into the ring 18 times as a professional and he’s come away with the win on all 18 occasions. With five decisions and 13 knockouts to his name, it’s clear to see there’s some diversity within Usyk’s game and while his perceived lack of power at heavyweight has been questioned, anyone who has gone eight years unbeaten as a pro fighter needs to be taken seriously.
Featured image credit: Getty
