Written by Jordan Rosas
If you don’t know the name Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs), learn it.
After a brilliant upset of international boxing star Anthony Joshua (24-2, 24 KOs), Usyk is boxing’s newest heavyweight champion. The victory, on Joshua’s home soil in the UK, transferred the WBA, WBO, and IBF heavyweight titles to the Ukrainian slugger. Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion, now holds three of the four major belts. The only one he’s missing? The WBC strap. That one belongs to Tyson Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), and he’ll defend it against his American rival, and former WBC champion, Deontay Wilder (42-1-1, 41 KOs) on October 9.
Ukraine may not churn out boxers in the volume that Mexico, USA, Puerto Rico, and the UK do, but the eastern European nation has produced some formidable fighters. Usyk is the first Ukrainian heavyweight champion since the Klitschko brothers Wladimir (64-5, 63 KOs) and Vitali (45-2, 41 KOs) – who dominated from the 1990’s-2010’s. He’s a part of a small, but talented new wave of Ukrainian fighters that include former 3 division champion and pound for pound king, Vasyl Lomachenko (15-2, 11 KOs), and former light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (17-1, 14 KOs).
Usyk is only the third man behind Evander Holyfield and David Haye to hold multiple belts at both cruiserweight and heavyweight, and the first cruiserweight to attain undisputed status in the four belt era. In fact, he’s just the fourth man to unify any division in the four belt era, after Jermian Taylor, Bernard Hopkins, and Terence Crawford.
He’s been known to dedicated boxing fans for several years now, but he’s slipped under the radar of many casual fight fans. He was born in the Soviet Union, so it’s no surprise that Usyk’s not flashy or boisterous. Plus, until this weekend, most of his accomplishments were in the notoriously disregarded cruiserweight division.
Oleksandr Usyk’s quiet, subdued ring walks are all business. Anthony Joshua on the other hand…
Usyk’s earned the reputation of being a road warrior, beating most of his big time opponents on their home soils. Impressive, given most league regulated sports have some sort of home field advantage, but high profile boxers have tremendous advantages when fighting on their home turf. Everything from the referee and judges down to the ring size and specific gloves used are up for debate. Yet Usyk, quietly and consistently, beats renowned champions at their own game, in their own home, under their own rules.
Unfortunately for the 34 year old Usyk, he’s a newbie in a heavyweight division that moves at slower than molasses pace. As much as he deserves a shot at unifying the belts, there are still plenty of heavyweight contenders who’ve been waiting for their title shot. On top of that, the defeated champion Anthony Joshua is expected to activate his rematch clause, which will force Usyk to grant him a rematch before making any other title defenses. And still, that’s not the only rematch he has to worry about. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder are about to square off for the third time – their first fight was a controversial draw, the second a dominant victory for Fury. If Wilder wins this next bout, it will even the score, and all but guarantee a fourth fight. Usyk’s win has already cast doubt on the long awaited British showdown between Fury and Joshua taking place.
So what’s next for Usyk? The simple answer is Usyk-Joshua 2. If he wins that, he should have his pick of either Fury or Wilder, assuming the two can escape their trans-Atlantic rivalry. It’s already been two years since they fought someone else though, and the third fight already had to be postponed because Fury had Covid. Fury-Wilder 4 could well be on the horizon, but for now it’s time for Ukrainians to celebrate their heavyweight championship. Ukraine may not be thought of as a party country, but the mayor of its capital city, Kyiv, is none other than former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. The mayor of Europe’s seventh largest city was even ringside to support his countryman. Safe to say Oleksandr Usyk should have a hero’s welcome waiting for him.