Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk (8-0, 8 KO) has indicated that he wants to emulate the feats of his cruiserweight predecessors – David Haye and Evander Holyfield – by becoming a heavyweight champion.
Asked
whether he shared the ambition of his trainer, James Ali Bashir, to make him
both the undisputed cruiserweight and heavyweight champion, Usyk gave a firm “yes.”
“That’s why
such a strong opponent as Pedro Rodriguez (21-1, 19KO) was chosen,” Usyk, the heavyweight
boxing gold medalist at the 2012 Olympics, said at a pre-fight conference at
the Eliziy restaurant in Kyiv on Dec. 8 ahead of his bout with the Cuban-born
fighter.
The Crimea
native will make a fourth defense of his WBO Inter-Continental Cruiserweight
title versus the Miami resident at Kyiv’s Sport Palace on Dec. 12 in a 12-round
battle.
“The things
my trainer says aren’t just words… you can simply go blah-blah-blah and do
nothing,” Usyk said. “I’ve got a different recipe. I speak less and do more. I
have plans first to box in the cruiserweight class. But there’s no reason to
rush.”
Both Usyk
and Bashir – a legend himself, and one of the few “old school” trainers left in
boxing – voiced respect for the risky Cuban, whose only loss came in the
heavyweight class, and who has sent of 19 of his 22 opponents crashing to the
canvas.
“We respect
the ability of Pedro Rodriguez, as we do to any fighter that comes into the ring,”
Bashir said. “He shows the courage and honor of the Cuban fighter. As his
record indicates, he’s a very dangerous opponent. We’ll do everything within
our power to overcome him.”
Rodgriguez’s
trainer, Luis Perez, said that they’ve “meticulously prepared” for this fight,
and “studied Usyk’s fighting style and manner.”
“We respect
him, he comes from a good (boxing) school,” Perez said.
Like Usyk,
the right-handed 29-year-old Cuban entered professional boxing only recently,
in February 2010. He’s admittedly secretive – a fact that he acknowledged at
the pre-fight conference. Only one of his fights can be viewed on YouTube “so
that opponents can’t study me.”
He’s ranked
in the top 15 by the World Boxing Association and goes by the nickname El Reguilete, which roughly translates
from the Spanish as dart. The Usyk fight will be his first on the European
continent.
A native of Simferopol in Ukraine’s Crimean
peninsula, Usyk was named the World Boxing Organization’s
“intercontinental fighter of the year” at the professional boxing
sanctioning body’s convention in Orlando, Florida on Oct. 27.
Aged 28, he is also currently ranked No. 1
by the WBO, No. 8 by the WBC, No. 8 by Ring Magazine and No. 10 by USA Today.
His manager and CEO of K2 Promotions
Alexander Krassyuk declined to say the size of the fight purse when asked by
the Kyiv Post.
Inter TV channel will broadcast the fight,
which will include several undercard bouts, starting at 7 p.m. on Dec. 12.
Kyiv Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
