1. Oleksandr Usyk has held the unified heavyweight championship since 2021, and the Ring magazine title since 2022.
94 Facts About Oleksandr Usyk
1. 2.
Oleksandr Usyk previously held the undisputed cruiserweight championship from 2018 to 2019, and is the first boxer to become the undisputed champion in these two weight classes since Evander Holyfield in 1990.
3.
Oleksandr Usyk turned professional in 2013, winning his first world title in 2016.
4.
Oleksandr Usyk vacated his cruiserweight titles in 2019 to move up to heavyweight.
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In 2021, Oleksandr Usyk defeated unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua to win the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles.
6.
Oleksandr Usyk defended the titles in a rematch against Joshua in 2022, while winning the vacant Ring title.
7.
In May 2024, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury to claim the WBC title and the undisputed championship in his second weight class.
8.
Oleksandr Usyk was born in Simferopol, Crimean Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union on 17 January 1987, to parents originally from northern Ukraine.
9.
Oleksandr Usyk's mother was born in the Chernihiv region, while his father was a native of Sumy.
10.
Oleksandr Usyk's mother worked in construction and moved to Simferopol to study.
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Oleksandr Usyk's father was a military man who passed through Afghanistan, working as a security guard in Crimea, and the two met there.
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Oleksandr Usyk is the first born of his family and he has two siblings.
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Oleksandr Usyk is a graduate of Lviv State University of Physical Culture.
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Oleksandr Usyk then moved up to light-heavyweight later and won the Strandja Cup in 2008.
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Oleksandr Usyk dropped down to light-heavyweight and won gold at the 2008 European Championships, but later moved back up to heavyweight.
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Oleksandr Usyk turned pro in late 2013 at the age of 26 and signed a promotional deal with the Klitschko brothers' K2 Promotions, fighting in the cruiserweight division.
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On 9 November 2013 Oleksandr Usyk made his professional debut by defeating Mexican fighter Felipe Romero via a fifth-round knockout.
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Oleksandr Usyk won his first title on 4 October 2014, after beating South African boxer Daniel Bruwer via seventh-round technical knockout for the interim WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight title.
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Oleksandr Usyk defended the title two months later, stopping 35 year old Danie Venter in the ninth-round.
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Oleksandr Usyk was ahead on all three judges' scorecards at the time of stoppage.
21.
Oleksandr Usyk made another defence on 18 April 2015, against former Russian cruiserweight champion Andrey Knyazev in Kyiv.
22.
On 29 August 2015, Oleksandr Usyk defeated former South African light heavyweight champion Johnny Muller via third-round TKO at the Sport Palace in Kyiv, which saw Oleksandr Usyk control the fight with a jab.
23.
Oleksandr Usyk knocked down Muller twice in round three and although Muller protested, the referee waved the fight off with one second of the round left.
24.
Oleksandr Usyk won the fight scoring, his ninth straight knockout in as many fights, first dropping Rodriguez in round six with an uppercut before the fight was stopped in round seven, being knocked down again, although he beat the count.
25.
Oleksandr Usyk announced he would be making his American debut on the Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Smith Jr.
26.
The pace picked up after the first couple of rounds when Oleksandr Usyk began breaking down Mchunu with his trademark, accurate combinations.
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Oleksandr Usyk scored a knockdown in the sixth round, and a further two more in the ninth, causing referee Lou Moret to wave off the fight at 2:53 of round 9.
28.
CompuBox statistics showed that Oleksandr Usyk landed 163 of 517 punches thrown, and Mchunu landed 76 of his 278.
29.
K2 Promotions announced that Oleksandr Usyk would be returning to regular HBO to defend his cruiserweight world title in April 2017.
30.
On 12 February 2017, Oleksandr Usyk announced that he had parted ways with long time trainer James Ali Bashir and replaced him with Vasiliy Lomachenko's father and trainer, Anatoly Lomachenko.
31.
Bob Arum announced that Oleksandr Usyk would be part of a triple header including Vasiliy Lomachenko at the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on 8 April 2017 against Michael Hunter.
32.
Oleksandr Usyk weighed 199.4 whilst Hunter came in at 199 pounds.
33.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 2,828, where there was majority Ukrainian fans in attendance, Oleksandr Usyk was taken the distance for the second time in his career and won a rather one-sided unanimous decision to retain his WBO title.
34.
At the Draft Gala, Oleksandr Usyk, who had first pick, chose to fight former WBO champion Marco Huck.
35.
On fight night, Oleksandr Usyk used his footwork and combination punching to cruise to a TKO win.
36.
On top of his dominant performance, Oleksandr Usyk taunted Huck throughout the fight.
37.
In round 8, Oleksandr Usyk tripped on Huck's feet and Huck lost a point on the scorecards as he threw a punch at Oleksandr Usyk when the latter was down.
38.
Oleksandr Usyk continued to land combinations with little to no response from Huck until referee Robert Byrd stopped the fight in the tenth-round.
39.
Oleksandr Usyk came in at 199.5 pounds and Briedis weighed 199.1 pounds.
40.
Oleksandr Usyk moved on to the final of the tournament after winning a close fight against Briedis via majority decision.
41.
The opening four rounds were closely contested, with Oleksandr Usyk receiving a cut over his right eye from an accidental clash of heads in the third round.
42.
From round five, Oleksandr Usyk became busier and took control of the fight, although he was still hit with some hard shots to the head from Briedis.
43.
On 16 April, it was reported that Oleksandr Usyk had suffered an elbow injury during training, pushing the final to possibly June or July 2018.
44.
Oleksandr Usyk quickly took control of the fight, moving rapidly and using his "beautiful, commandeering jab", while not allowing Gassiev to use his power.
45.
Oleksandr Usyk's dominance was reflected in the punch stats, as CompuBox recorded him landing 252 of 939 thrown punches, compared to Gassiev's 91 landed of 313 thrown.
46.
Oleksandr Usyk used his superior conditioning to finish the fight, increasing his output by landing 47 of 117 punches thrown in round 12.
47.
Oleksandr Usyk managed to withstand the 32 power body shots he received and continued to move around the ring.
48.
On 5 September, the WBA ordered Oleksandr Usyk to start negotiating with Denis Lebedev, who was their 'champion in recess' and gave them until the first week of October 2018 to complete negotiations.
49.
On fight night, Oleksandr Usyk, who is usually a slow starter, eventually took full control of the bout and stopped Bellew in round 8 to retain all the cruiserweight belts.
50.
Oleksandr Usyk began using his jab more and after landing an overhand left, Bellew was left slightly shaken.
51.
In round 8, whilst in a neutral corner, Oleksandr Usyk landed a hard left, again buzzing Bellew, forcing him to move away against the ropes.
52.
Oleksandr Usyk had the option to challenge the winner of the rematch between Andy Ruiz Jr.
53.
Oleksandr Usyk wanted to challenge himself on his first heavyweight fight.
54.
Oleksandr Usyk suggested that the previous two positive results had been manipulated and asked who was responsible.
55.
In front of 9,073 in attendance, Oleksandr Usyk won the fight as Witherspoon retired in his corner after round 7.
56.
Oleksandr Usyk landed some hard shots which left some bruising over Usyk's right eye.
57.
Oleksandr Usyk was WBO's mandatory challenger, so could challenge the winner.
58.
On 11 March 2020, it was announced that Oleksandr Usyk would fight former world title challenger Derek Chisora on 23 May at The O2 Arena in London.
59.
Oleksandr Usyk acknowledged this was a tough step up in class for him and would treat it as a true test at heavyweight.
60.
Eddie Hearn revealed he was surprised Oleksandr Usyk took the fight, but was aware it was the fight Oleksandr Usyk needed to prepare for the world champions at heavyweight.
61.
Oleksandr Usyk said what Usyk gives up in terms of size and power, he would make up skill and speed, which would be key to victory.
62.
Haye thought Oleksandr Usyk's team were making a mistake in allowing this fight to take place.
63.
Oleksandr Usyk would be next in line to fight Joshua, who was scheduled to defend his titles against Kubrat Pulev later in the year.
64.
Oleksandr Usyk had not been as active as he wanted to be since his win over Bellew in November 2018.
65.
Oleksandr Usyk had back-up dates in lined up for the Summer.
66.
Oleksandr Usyk then said it could take place anywhere outside the UK.
67.
In doing so, Oleksandr Usyk passed his first major test at heavyweight.
68.
Oleksandr Usyk showed a good chin having taken some big shots from Chisora, who started off the fight quicker.
69.
Oleksandr Usyk is known for starting slow to figure out his opponents.
70.
Compubox showed that Oleksandr Usyk landed 194 of his 674 punches thrown and Chisora landed 139 of his 625 thrown.
71.
Oleksandr Usyk revealed his decision to leave his homeland and refocus his efforts on boxing was supported by Mayor of Kyiv and former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, as well as his younger brother Wladimir Klitschko, a former heavyweight champion who had been defeated by Anthony Joshua in 2017.
72.
On 19 June 2022, it was officially announced that Oleksandr Usyk would be facing Joshua in a rematch in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 20 August.
73.
Accordingly, Oleksandr Usyk was given a maximum of five minutes to recover, but despite declaring he was ready to continue, Pabon urged Oleksandr Usyk to take more time out.
74.
Oleksandr Usyk ultimately used three minutes and forty-five seconds before the fight resumed.
75.
Oleksandr Usyk forced Dubois to take a knee in the eighth round and again in the ninth round, where he was counted out.
76.
Oleksandr Usyk faced WBC champion Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight title in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
77.
Oleksandr Usyk told the BBC that he missed the birth of his child while training in Spain and that he would return to Ukraine to see his family before resuming training for the rescheduled fight.
78.
The opening rounds of the fight were closely contested, with Oleksandr Usyk applying constant pressure and landing power punches, while Fury found success with his jab, fighting off the back foot.
79.
Oleksandr Usyk broke down in tears in the ring after his victory was announced and dedicated it to his family, his team, and the people of Ukraine.
80.
CompuBox suggested Oleksandr Usyk had landed 170 of 407 punches compared to Fury's 157 of 496.
81.
Oleksandr Usyk landed with some stinging shots which pushed Fury back, while Fury landed some hard shots to head and body.
82.
Oleksandr Usyk tried to lean on Usyk and weigh him down, but Usyk did well to fight him off and keep him at a distance.
83.
Oleksandr Usyk used his footwork to move strategically around the ring.
84.
Oleksandr Usyk connected on more power punches in seven rounds out of twelve, including the first round, while the last round was even.
85.
On 12 March 2025, Sky Sports reported that Oleksandr Usyk was in talks to fight Daniel Dubois in a rematch, for the undisputed heavyweight title.
86.
Oleksandr Usyk did not rule out fighting Parker or Derek Chisora.
87.
In May 2020, Oleksandr Usyk was listed on the Myrotvorets website for "repeating the Kremlin's statements [that Russia and Ukraine are] one nation, rejecting Russian aggression and denying the independence of Ukrainian Orthodoxy from Russian control of the Russian Orthodox Church, they have sided with the traitors of Ukraine".
88.
However, in September 2022 Oleksandr Usyk said that Crimea "was, is and will be" Ukrainian, and that it had been taken away forcefully from Ukraine.
89.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Oleksandr Usyk called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the invasion.
90.
Oleksandr Usyk said that Russian soldiers broke into his empty house in Vorzel and ransacked it.
91.
Oleksandr Usyk said that he did not want to leave, but that he visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers who told him he could help his country more by representing it internationally.
92.
In 2023, Oleksandr Usyk signed a one-year professional contract with Ukrainian Premier League team FC Polissya Zhytomyr.
93.
Oleksandr Usyk previously made a substitute appearance for the club in February 2022.
94.
Oleksandr Usyk said he intends to play football after he retires from boxing.